MNN - Mother Nature Network

Take a minute out of your day to teach yourself Sustainable Fishing 101 with this astonishing short film (only 13 min.) from Oceana: "Fishy Business: The Illegal Driftnet Fishery."

 

Driftnet fishing is an illegal, detrimental and indiscriminate type of fishing -- boats let huge nets hang up to 30 meters down and up to 20 kilometers across, and then pull up whatever creatures happen to get caught. Fishermen looking to catch tuna or swordfish cheaply end up catching just about everything -- sea turtles, whales and dolphins included -- and at quite a price to the oceans. Oceana estimates that bycatch casualties (creatures that get caught accidentally) make up about 85 percent of what's pulled up in driftnets -- and bycatch is usually thrown back to the sea dead or dying. Brace yourself for footage of bloodied dolphins and floundering leatherback sea turtles, high-stakes boat chases and heartrending Franz Schubert playing in the background.

 

Check out Environmental Defense's eco-fish guide to learn how to choose the most sustainably caught types of fish at the market.