The Ocean Is Calling, Are We Listening?

Harsh Reality of Bottom Trawling & Reflections Ocean with David Attenborough’s

During May, David Attenborough’s new documentary was in theaters across the world and I had the opportunity to go see it. There are moments that change you and quietly but powerfully shift something inside and watching David Attenborough: Ocean was one of those moments for me.

I work in ocean conservation and know enough of the threats, and the reality so I wasn’t expecting to learn something new since. But this film didn’t aim to inform in the traditional sense of a documentary, it was more so to confront us with the harsh reality of dangerous fishing practices. The film asks us not just to know, but to feel. And that’s exactly what it did.

David Attenborough: Ocean is not an easy film to watch. It doesn’t hold your hand or offer many comforting solutions. It asks you to sit with what’s happening below the surface and feel it. That more than anything, is what makes it so crucial. Because it’s like Ocean Conservation Pioneer Sylvia Earle said “With knowing comes caring”.

At first, the film is what you would expect it to be: clips of vibrant corals, sunlight shimmering through ocean waves, beautiful marine life. But it quickly shifts when the film pulls you deeper into the reality of Bottom Trawling: seabeds razed by massive chains and fish dragged up in nets, discarded by the ton because this practice if often done in the haunt for 1 single, specific species. That’s when I realized: this isn’t just a documentary. It is a call to action showing us the quiet, ongoing violence we’ve normalized in our oceans because for the majority of us it’s a practice we weren’t even aware of.

Ocean with David Attenborough by Altitude Films

What Is Bottom Trawling and Why Should We Care?

Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive fishing practices still allowed across the world. Huge nets often wider than city streets, are dragged across the seafloor by industrial ships. Everything in their path coral reefs, sponges, seagrasses, small fish, even carbon-rich sediments, is all swept away or destroyed. It’s like bulldozing a forest to catch birds.

While it may seem like an outdated, bottom trawling is alarmingly common. In the EU alone, it’s responsible for more than 90% of discarded fish. It also kills countless non-target species like dolphins, turtles, rays and seabirds, and severely undermines small-scale, low-impact fishers who rely on healthier ecosystems to survive. What’s worse is that it’s still allowed in many of Europe’s marine protected areas. Yes, “protected” in name, but not in practice.

Fishing & MPA data: Global Fishing Watch, Marine Conservation Society, Seas At Risk, & Oceana

Mobilization to Stop Bottom Trawling

Environmental organizations, scientists, and grassroots advocates have been pushing for stronger protections. Recently, there’s been growing pressure on the European Commission to ban bottom trawling in all marine protected areas, starting with clear timelines and enforcement plans. Over 300,000 citizens and dozens of NGOs have signed petitions urging for this step to become reality.

The science backs it up too. During the film David Attenborough explain how in places where bottom trawling has been banned, biodiversity comes back quickly. In just a few years, entire ecosystems begin to regenerate and even carbon storage improves. There’s no question that banning bottom trawling in key marine protected areas is a clear, immediate step we can take.

The Ocean Is Asking: What Will We Do?

Ocean with David Attenborough reminded me why I fight for the ocean I so love. Not just for the turtles or the coral ecosystems, but also for the well-being of ALL our communities. 

We’re no longer in the stage of awareness, we’re in the stage of responsibility. So I invite you to learn about bottom trawling and support campaigns that call on the EU and other governments to ban it. Attenborough’s message is clear: we’re not just watching the ocean die, we’re participating in its decline, and this time we can’t afford to look away.

If you haven’t seen David Attenborough: Ocean, I urge you to watch it and then let it move you to act!