It may be another inconvenient truth, but Rupert Murray, like that better-known documentary-maker Michael Moore, has a very effective way of making people want to hear the message anyway. It's called smart film-making.
The astonishing facts and stats about what we're doing to the world's seas just keep coming in this full-length feature film, released in the UK this month.
It's depressing, but while aware that these facts are hotly contested in some quarters, I felt much better-informed by the time the end-credits were rolling.
Little fish tumble from holds in their hundreds of thousands, big fish writhe in their death throes, dredgers plough up coral reefs, fishermen wonder where all the fish they used to catch went, and diners munch happily on sashimi, against an apocalyptic orchestral score.
But this compelling film never goes over the top, and my interest was maintained as piece after piece of the picture was revealed.
We see Japan's Mitsubishi, responsible for 60% of Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishing, allegedly stashing away thousands of tonnes of frozen fish so that, once the bluefin is extinct, the corporation can name its price and move on to the next species.
We see 10% of all fish caught thrown back dead - along with sharks, turtles, seabirds and dolphins. We see crustaceans, jellyfish, shrimps, algae and plankton thriving where their natural predators have been removed. This may be all the sea life that's left for our children to eat, if one scientist, reviled by the fishing industry, is to be believed. He reckons stocks of every species we currently consume will have collapsed before 2050.
Neither does fish-farming seem to be the answer. Farmed fish are fed ground-up wild fish, and it takes 5kg of anchovies to rear 1kg of salmon.
The talking heads in The End of the Line, including British journalist Charles Clover, on whose book the film is based, all have interesting points to make, and generally do so in a reasoned rather than a polemical way.
Politicians ignore scientific advice on quotas and set recklessly liberal ones, says Clover. The fishing industry rides roughshod over these anyway. "Fishermen cheat because they can," he says. "They don't get caught."
Ultimately, The End of the Line is not against fishing or eating fish, but it does have three messages for us: eat only sustainable seafood; push politicians to cut the fishing fleets; and campaign for more marine protected areas.
There are currently 4000 marine reserves around the world, but these cover just 0.06% of the ocean. We need far more.
As divers with a stake in the seas, we have a particular responsibility. If you think you know all this stuff already, The End Of The Line may just surprise you with its sheer scope. It's an important call to action.
Steve Weinman
The Fish Film Company
endoftheline.com
UK cinema release: from 12 June 2009
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