Documentary Review: Seaspiracy (2021)

Seaspiracy Revisited: A wake-up call still echoing in 2025.

In 2021, the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy made waves - both literal and metaphorical - by exposing the dark underbelly of the global fishing industry. Directed by Ali Tabrizi, the film ignited passionate debates, garnered international attention, and forced many to rethink their relationship with seafood. Now, four years later, with climate change accelerating and ocean health more precious than ever, Seaspiracy feels less like a sensational expose and more like a chilling prophecy ignored.

Seaspiracy was never subtle. It tackled everything from overfishing and bycatch to plastic pollution, slavery in the seafood industry, and the futility of "sustainable" labels. Its central thesis was simple, yet provocative: industrial fishing is one of the most destructive forces impacting our oceans - and by extension, our climate.

Critics at the time questioned the film's accuracy and tone, accusing it of exaggeration and oversimplification. Yet, its core message has only become more urgent. In 2025, we're witnessing the very consequences Seaspiracy warned us about: collapsing fish stocks, ocean acidification, and coastal communities increasingly devastated by climate-linked marine degradation.

Despite the controversy, Seaspiracy succeeded in bringing marine conservation into the mainstream climate conversation. For years, the oceans were often sidelined in climate discourse, overshadowed by land-based concerns like deforestation and fossil fuels. What Seaspiracy did was reframe the ocean not just as a victim of climate change - but as a major driver of it.

Here's how it message resonates today:

• The film highlighted how whales, krill, and seagrass meadows play a crucial role in carbon sequestration. In 2025, with extreme weather events and rising  CO₂ levels, the need to protect these natural carbon sinks has become a top climate priority.

• Studies now confirm that bottom trawling releases as much carbon as global aviation. This revelation, aligned with Seaspiracy claims, underscores the urgency of regulating destructive fishing practices. 
  
  
• We're currently in the midst of the sixth mass extinction, and marine species are disappearing at an alarming rate. The documentary's warnings about ecosystem collapse are playing out in real time.

Perhaps the most important legacy of Seaspiracy is its role in catalyzing change - however incremental. Since its release:

• Plant-based seafood alternatives have surged in popularity. (Just yesterday I had some plant-based calamari and it was amazing.)
• Countries like the UK and New Zealand have debated stricter marine protections.
• Grassroots movements and youth activists continue to push for ocean conservation in climate policy.

But there's still a long way to go. In 2025, climate justice must include "ocean justice". That means holding corporations accountable, ending subsidies for destructive fishing, and centring indigenous coastal communities in conservation efforts.

Whether you loved or loathed its approach, Seaspiracy sparked a global conversation that refuses to die out. Its relevance today is not just what it got right, but in how much work is still ahead.