“300 years ago, before the arrival of industrial fishing, the ocean was full of life … and now, it’s like a shadow of itself,” says the narrator at the beginning of the trailer for CAUGHT — a new documentary by Age of Union, which reveals the critical impacts of dangerous fishing methods and dolphin bycatch off the coast of France.

The film offers a raw, unfiltered look at boots-on-the-ground activism by the M/Y Age of Union Sea Shepherd crew and pinpoints the potential catastrophic ripple effects of overfishing, jeopardizing sustainability for all life on earth in the foreseeable future.

On July 27, the Faculty of Environment will host a special screening of the documentary CAUGHT, to continue shedding light on this critical issue and discuss solutions that would allow us to protect and restore critically threatened oceans before it’s too late.

“The screening is an opportunity to bring people from across our diverse communities together to explore the shocking consequences of overfishing. We must know the depth of this issue so that we can work together to address it.”

Dr. Sarah Burch, professor in the Faculty of Environment and executive director of the Waterloo Climate Institute

The Ocean is essential for our survival and as the documentary points out, humanity has taken more from the Ocean within the last 10 year period than we took in the previous 100 years all together.

Advancing sustainable futures for the world is a complex problem. Weighing climate change and sustainability with societal needs and inequities is no simple task. However, the University of Waterloo is a leader in sustainability research and education. We build on this strength by partnering with organizations like Age of Union and Sea Shepard to help drive society towards a sustainable future.

CAUGHT is part of the 2022 Wildscreen Festival's official selection and will take place at The Eglinton Grand in Toronto on Thursday, July 27, at 5 p.m. ET. The screening will be followed by a discussion moderated by Dr. Burch with film contributors Dax Dasilva, founder of Age of Union, and Will Allen, cinematographer and photographer.

We hope you will join us to watch and discuss the documentary.

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