Weather The Storm
36m
Directed by Charles Menzies and Jennifer Rashleigh • Documentary • 2008 • 36 minutes
In today's global economy, the world's ocean resources are being hit hard. Enormous industrial 'floating factories' follow the fish wherever they are abundant, and move on when they have plundered the fish stocks. In the process, they squeeze the life out of small and local fishing communities.
The fishing communities of the Bigouden, on France's rugged Western coast, are determined to fight back. From the Paris fish riots of 1991, to the newly formed World Forum for Fish Harvesters, these small town fishermen have launched a sophisticated and multi-faceted strategy to stay small and successful in the face of global competition.
Filmed in ports from Western Canada to France, from Scotland to Senegal, Weather The Storm introduces viewers to the logic underlying both industrial and artisanal fishing economies. It provides compelling evidence for the environmental and socio-economic benefits of staying small and local. Although the battle to save the oceans is often publicly waged between environmentalists and corporations, this film gives voice to an important group who just may have the solutions we need: the small-scale artisanal fishers.