Fishing: In the Sea of Greed
(1998, Colour, 44 mins)

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Traditional fishing communities around the world are under threat of mass displacement by the industrial fishing practices of gigantic factory ships. Private capital, with the aid of international lending agencies, have embarked on a mindless offensive to catch fish in quantities unheard of until now.

This frightening abuse of the seas has been actively promoted by governments in the developing world, as territorial waters are handed over to transnational corporations to meet debt obligations. Further, agencies like the World Bank have promoted aquaculture prawn farming as a foreign currency earner in the Third World.

The primary victims are poverty-stricken rice growers and fishing communities. Salination of ground water causes a scarcity of fresh drinking water as waste from prawn farms are emptied into nearby rivers and other fresh water bodies. Within years, large stretches of land are abandoned as unfit for agriculture.

Fishing in the Sea of Greed documents the response of one fishing community in India to the "rape and run" industries that have begun to dominate their livelihood and decimate their environment. Under the leadership of the National Fishworkers Forum and the World Forum of Fishworkers and Fish Harvesters, workers are fighting not only for their jobs, but for the survival of the world's coastal communities and ecosystems.


Reviews:
"Conveying the sense of passionate urgency implicit in such a collective life, "Fishing in the Sea of Greed" embodies an empathetic symbiosis between film-maker and subject.”
Ranjit Hoskote, The Hindu

"With Fishing in the Sea of Greed, Anand has been able to mesh together events that concern a community with a proximity & transparence that touches an immediate inner chord."
Signe Byrge Sorensen, Zebra News, Media Mail

Credits
Camera, Editing - Anand Patwardhan
Additional Camera - Simantini Dhuru
Sound - Simantini Dhuru, Shankar Borua