Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, writer, broadcaster, campaigner and advocate of seasonal and ethically-produced food has offered his support for The End of the Line.
Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has offered his support for The End of the Line film and campaign
With co-author Nick Fisher, he wrote The River Cottage Fish Book. Hugh says the aim of the book was “to empower you, the consumer, to make choices which will genuinely help to reverse the decline in our native fish stocks.”
He is currently filming for the new series of River Cottage which begins on Wednesday 3rd June on Channel 4.
In the next edition of the River Cottage newsletter, Hugh writes:
“You may well have heard of Charles Clover’s excellent and eye-opening book, The End of The Line, which deals with the far-reaching effects of over-fishing in our seas.
“The book has now been made into a film, under the same title. Using Clover’s superb research and some stunning cinematography, it brings home the point, perhaps with even greater impact than the book, that we cannot continue fishing in the way we do.
“It is simply unsustainable – so much so that some scientists predict a total collapse of pretty much all our fish stocks within the next 40 years.
“I can’t call The End of The Line easy viewing – I found it shocking, in fact - but it is compelling, and essential for anyone who cares about the state of our oceans.
The good news is that the film is not merely a tolling bell – Clover offers genuine, practical solutions which could turn the tide.
“The End of The Line is launched on June 8 (World Ocean’s Day) – go to The End of the Line site for screening details.”
Shame on you Hugh for taking so long to jump on the bandwagon. I challenged you months ago on your River Cottage Forum to become involved in informing the public through the media, about the dangers that commercial over fishing was causing around the world. I also e-mailed Jamie Oliver, but it seems you were both too busy saving chickens. It’s no good informing the public to buy fish that aren’t cod, when they are dragged up from the sea bed together in the same trawl, the pollock and gurnard kept, but the cod thrown back dead, along with the other flora and fauna that for generations made the sea healthy. Shouldn’t you be encouraging people to buy their fish from environmentally sound sources, and sustainable bio mass caught selectively not indescriminately,
This is a bit harsh Rory - have you not read Hugh FW’s Fish book (given your comments, I think not…)? It’s totally exhaustive on the subject. It’s the ideal fish cookery book to read if you care about the environment and want to make informed decisions about what’s out there and what you should and shouldn’t be cooking.
Maybe, maybe not. I haven’t read this book, but have obviously read ‘The End of the Line, by Charles Clover ‘The Unnatural Histroy of the sea, the past and future of humanity and Fishing’ by Professor Callum Roberts and also ‘Cod’ by Mark Kurlansky.
I do care passionately about the environment (that’s why I wrote on Hughs forum as I couldn’t get in touch with him any other way and Jamie Oliver, but at least Channel 4 replied to me re: Jamie, (again had to go through other channels to reach the desired person). I am also a keen sea angler so know first hand the damage that commercial fishing has caused to our fisheries with a major downfall in the amount of cod and flounders that are now being caught by recreational anglers around the coast of the UK. Unless fish are caught on rod and line then there is no way that you can not have some form of by catch which means that promoting other species to dine on still has the consequence that half the sea bed and its eco systems are displaced /damaged and destroyed by trawling for said species. I believe that someone as high profile as Hugh could have a major influence in promoting sustainable fisheries, with the medium of TV reaching a much higher audience than his book. I applaud this film as it highlights what recreational sea anglers have been saying for decades about commercial overfishing…..The ball is rolling…..lets see if we can keep the momentum going