Forget pirates; fear fishermen

“The End of the Line” is an apocalyptic documentary that is as beautiful as it is damning. The latest in a series of alarmist films that clue us in to an environmental crisis we’d prefer to ignore, “The End of the Line” benefits from its supremely photogenic subject matter.

That would be the oceans of the world, handsomely shot by some half a dozen cinematographers under the direction of Rupert Murray. The limitless seas are a source of awe, filled with creatures that amaze with their variety and strangeness.

Menacing this nautical Eden, however, is “the most efficient predator our oceans have ever known.” Yes, that would be man, armed to the technological gills with phenomenally efficient fish-harvesting equipment. As a result, some experts predict that within half a century the Earth’s oceans will be fished out. Let “An Inconvenient Truth” try to top that.

As directed by Murray, whose last film was the very different amnesia doc, “Unknown White Male,” “The End of the Line” comes off as crisp, informative and convincing. It illustrates how we got into this mess, how we are in the process of squandering one of the great resources of the planet and what can be done about it.

Our guide to the coming disaster is British journalist Charles Clover, who wrote a book on the subject and started to worry about the crisis when he heard that modern overfishing techniques were the equivalent of “plowing a field seven times a year.” Hardly a plan for lasting harvests.

The conventional wisdom about the oceans was that they were infinitely renewable and inexhaustible. The first hint on local levels that fish stocks were down came in 1988, but global figures didn’t match that until 2002, when China’s habit of overstating numbers for internal political purposes came to light.

“The End of the Line” offers case studies to make its point, starting with the well-known story of the Atlantic cod, once phenomenally plentiful and then fished almost out of existence by 1992, with about 40,000 jobs lost as a result.

Less well known is the plight of the bluefin tuna, so beloved of sushi fanatics that it’s been called “the most expensive meat on the planet.” It’s so sought after that the catch has declined 80% in the last 10 years, something that gives restaurants pause (Los Angeles’ Nobu is featured in this segment) but doesn’t always get them to stop using it.

The problem, apparently, is too much fish-catching capacity chasing too few fish: One expert estimates that the lines set out for fish are so extensive they could circle the globe 550 times.

With hundreds of millions of people depending on fish for sustenance, “The End of the Line” recommends things like protected areas, where fishing would be forbidden, and a moratorium on catching certain species.

Periodically, the international community attempts to put rules into play, but these are lax to begin with and not stringently enforced. “They’re trying to negotiate with biology,” is how Clover puts it. “You can’t do that.”

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kenneth.turan@latimes.com

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‘The End

of the Line’

MPAA rating: Unrated

Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes

Playing: In selected theaters