Treatment
Overfishing is a global problem which has risen dramatically over the past decade. The United Nations food and Agriculture organization has estimated that over 70% of the world's fish stocks are either fully exploited or have been depleted. The majority of the problems have been caused over the last 50 years with the rapid growth of the human population as well as the advances in fishing technology. With fish stocks under threat, tougher laws have been put in place in order to try and restore fish stock levels but this has lead to a rise in illegal fishing. The illegal fishing market is thought to be worth between $10 billion and $25 billion a year. This illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing thrives where governance is weak, a lot of third world countries.
With the Philippines once being the worlds number one producer of tuna in southeast Asia in the 1980s, fishing has always been a large export for the Philippines. The Filipino government has gone to great lengths in order to crack down on illegal fishing by Filipino and foreign fishers. Corruption within the Filipino government as well as local officials make the monitoring of illegal fishing very difficult as well as illegal fishing being linked to crime and the use of illegal fishing methods such as cyanide fishing as well as dynamite fishing.
Fishing in the Philippines has always interested me, having a mother who has been brought up in the Philippines next to the sea, I have spent a lot of my time out there. My uncle who lives in the Philippines also partakes in illegal dynamite fishing which i have seen first hand. With this special insight into the industry, I hope to better look into the effects of illegal fishing and the effects in has on the industry.
I aim to produce a 30 - 40 minute documentary focusing on the effects that the illegal fishing trade to the fishermen themselves as well as the surrounding areas and families. I will be staying in northern Philippines, in the "Ilocos Norte" region next to the sea, where fishing is a popular profession for many local Filipinos. I will also be getting an insight into various techniques of illegal fishing, not just areas in which fishing is prohibited. With a lot of my family on my mothers side being from a fisherman background, i'll be able to get an intimate sight into this very closed industry which is illegal but I will also be looking into why this trade is still going on and not correctly policed.
Themes:
The main theme in my documentary is awareness, for the effects of illegal fishing as well as the actual practice. Other themes being explored will be the themes of exploitation due to the environmental effects and the effect that this lifestyle has on the fishermen.
