This may be a record. Our independent documentary film has run for four weeks in the West End of London, with four screenings a day, and continues to be picked up by London cinemas, including many which originally turned it down.

It is booked in cinemas around the country until the end of September.

As a writer and not a habitual film-maker, I had no idea how impressive that was, but Christopher Hird, our executive producer, tells me that nobody can remember another UK produced documentary having anything like this success.

Only An Inconvenient Truth had anything like this impact, and it had tens of millions of marketing money behind it that we have not.

What has astonished even us is the way the film has broken out of the usual circle of dedicated followers of the environmental cause and found its way into the consciousness of the public at large.

It has been taken up by the Sun, Hello and Heat magazine, as well as regional and local papers and the entire national press. Continue reading ‘An astonishing month for The End of the Line’

The buzz about the film continues apace, with more articles and reviews about The End of the Line, including coverage from the Washington Post, Reuters and The Guardian.

First up, a sign that the fishing industry is taking notice of The End of the Line, Young’s Seafood, part of the Findus Group, is welcoming the film.

James Turton, group director of sustainability and corporate affairs, says: “This is an impactful, well-made documentary and we welcome its intent to highlight the vital importance of protecting the world’s fish resources and its call for consumers to choose sustainable seafood.”

The Washington Post’s Kim O’Donnel writes about the film on the Mighty Appetite blog. She says: “Several years ago, at one of the first sustainable seafood press conferences I had attended, one of the panelists said something that remains etched in my memory: “The oceans belong to all of us, whether or not we eat fish.”

“EOTL doesn’t just hint at this sentiment; it screams and shouts and urges you to wake up and smell the plankton.” Continue reading ‘Fishing industry is taking notice of The End of the Line’

Seafish and the fishing industry are cod-a-hoop recently, because it seems that cod stocks are doing better.

You may have missed the news, but the story is that the EU’s scientific advice suggests that stocks of North Sea cod have increased five per cent in the last year, and are up a whopping 40 per cent from the average in 2005-2008.

Sounds like great news. And of course any increase in a rampantly-overfished population of animals is to be welcomed. But it needs to be set in context.

Cod stocks are generally at a historic low in the North Sea. Viewing numbers against last year, or five years ago, may indeed show a slight increase, but basic arithmetic will quickly tell you that five or even 40 per cent of ‘hardly-any’ is equal to ‘not-very-much’.

We need to look at the level of cod stocks decades, generations and centuries ago. That’s what we should be aiming for - managing our seas for the recovery and abundance of species rather than scrabbling around amongst the low digits snapping off every green shoot of recovery as soon as it breaks the surface. Charles Clover puts it into context here.

And then there’s the other good news - fishermen are voluntarily taking measures to reduce ‘discards’ (whereby marketable species like cod are chucked away dead, being over quota, under sized, or not very sellable).

This is indeed great news. I for one am delighted that measures like more selective nets are being used, and that areas are being closed to fishing to try and protect cod stocks and reduce discards. This is eminently sensible, and the sort of thing Greenpeace has been campaigning for for years.

Of course we should minimise discards, they benefit no one.

But again, let’s look at the figures in context. As it’s not enough to say we have a great scheme for reducing discards, unless it does the job, is it? And what is the EU scientists’ news on cod discards in the North Sea … why, last year they showed a dramatic increase in discards. Yes, an increase.

More cod were caught and discarded (chucked away, dead and wasted) than were caught and landed. Most of these were immature fish that will never have the chance to breed.

So, by all means let’s applaud those taking measures to reduce fishing capacity, minimise discards, set aside areas free of fishing as marine reserves, and use more selective methods … but North Sea cod are not out of the woods yet.

Clamouring for increased quotas and painting such a rosy picture of recovery does the fishing industry no favours.

• Willie MacKenzie is part of Greenpeace’s Ocean Campaign. This blog post originally appeared on the Greenpeace UK website.

The End of the Line’s half an hour of fame on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square yesterday proved to be a great success.

It generated plenty of interest from the public, prompting many to attend the evening screening of the film at the Prince Charles Cinema.

As part of the One&Other project Oliver Parsons-Baker took his place on the Fourth Plinth at 10.30am dressed in a giant fish costume, which attracted many curious looks from passers by.

Members of the film team chatted to the public about the film, handing out MCS pocket fish guides and WWF sustainable fish recipe books. Continue reading ‘Fishy business on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square’

The End of the Line continues to make waves in the movie world - it has now been selected to be part of filmmaker Michael Moore’s exclusive Traverse City Film Festival.

Michael personally selects the film’s that will screen at the festival. He has seen The End of the Line, and apparently, he loves it.

The festival takes place between 28th July and 2nd August, in Traverse City, Michigan, and last year over 70 films were screened. The End of the Line is showing at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium on Wednesday 29th July at 3:00pm.

Back in the UK the film’s run at the Odeon, Panton Street, London has been extended for another seven days until Thursday 9th July, making it an amazing four consecutive weeks it will have been shown there.

This means that over the coming week The End of the Line will be screened over 35 times in London, with dates also being added at Notting Hill and Islington.

Panton Street Odeon will continue to show the film four times a day at 2:40pm, 4:45pm, 6:50pm and 8:55pm.

The other confirmed screenings are:

• Gate Picturehouse, Notting Hill on Friday 3rd, Tuesday 7th, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th July.
• Screen on the Green, Islington Friday 3rd, Sunday 5th, Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th July.
• Prince Charles Cinema on Tuesday 7th July, with an introduction by Claire Lewis, Producer of The End of the Line.

For those who live outside London, do not despair - there are countrywide bookings coming up, please keep an eye on the website or email your post code to , so we can let you know when the film reaches your area.

The End of the Line will also be appearing in Trafalgar Square, on the Fourth Plinth, as part of the One&Other Project. See ‘The End of the Line to appear on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth‘ for details.

The End of the Line is going to appear on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square!

Well, in reality Oliver Parsons-Baker, Senior Water Quality Advisor for Severn Trent Water, will stand on the Fourth Plinth on Tuesday 7th July, dress as a fish to promote the important issues contained in The End of the Line as part of the One&Other Project.

The project, in partnership with Sky Arts, is the brainchild of artist Antony Gormley, famed for his 20ft-high Angel of the North sculpture that overlooks the A1, near Newcastle.

He is asking 2,400 people to occupy the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square for one hour each between 6th July and 14th October 2009. So far nearly 15,000 people have applied for one of the 2,400 hour long slots.

Oliver will be standing on the Fourth Plinth between 10am and 11am on Tuesday 7th July. He will spend the first 30 minutes publicising the work that Water Aid does, and the second half an hour dressed as a fish, promoting The End of the Line. Continue reading ‘The End of the Line to appear on Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth’

All of the news on The End of the Line for the past week has been from outside the UK, coming from far afield as Australia and Japan.

Writing for the Food Detective column in The Australian, Michelle Rowe says: “A harrowing new documentary predicting the demise of seafood by 2048, and the imminent extinction of the endangered southern bluefin tuna, has seen international celebrities rally to protect the world’s fish supplies.”

Japanese blog Choices for Tomorrow, carries an article in both English and Japanese in their Changes around the world section. They will also be running an interview with Claire Lewis, Producer of The End of the Line, in the next issue.

The Philadelphia Examiner reports on Ted Danson’s support of the film. Debbie Jordan writes: “Watch the videos; check to see if there will be a screening of the film, “The End of the Line,” in your area; if not, ask your local theatres to get the film and show it; and check the website of Oceana.org for more information on how you can help save the fish, the planet, and the human race.”

While The Philadelphia Weekly’s review, by Matt Prigge, praises the look and feel of the film and he awards it a B-. “Director Rupert Murray (Unknown White Male) also did the lensing duties, and his film is a good deal more handsome and visually striking than your average doc.

“At times The End of the Line feels less like a documentary than a conspiracy thriller, which in a way it is . . . . the film smartly diagnoses the chief problems as overfishing and cheerful law-breaking.”

Nashville Scene blog also has a review of the film, which is running as part of the Belcourt Theatre’s Food on Film series. Carrington Fox says: “Murray lays out a chilling argument that seafood could be a thing of the past as early as 2048.

“As moviemaking, The End of the Line is Discovery Channel standard-issue bolstered by fine undersea footage - but its message of impending crisis will leave its hooks in you.”

The Passionate Foodie carries a very positive review of the film, which says: “You may not realise which fish are in danger and could thus be unwittingly contributing to their demise. More knowledge about this issue should be spread.

“To help disseminate the word, a new independent documentary, The End of The Line, has recently been released, explaining the dire problem of overfishing.”