July 2023 Newsletter
As an organization that believes the media can change minds for the better, it's not always the case. While 1975's "Jaws" remains a classic American movie, it instilled a deep-seated fear of sharks into millions of movie-goers. While sharks are apex predators, they aren't the supervillain to humans that many movies make them out to be.
That said, it's ironic that a legendary horror director is stepping up to correct this misconception. Between directing Hollywood blockbusters and horror classics, filmmaker and EMA Board Member Eli Roth took a deep dive into the world of sharks, only to discover the true horror story: human greed. We spoke with Eli about the plight of sharks and why everyone should fight to save these incredible predators.
Eli, you've spoken about this a few times at our EMA IMPACT Summit, but once more for those who couldn’t attend: What inspired you to make "Fin", and why do you hope the documentary will be obsolete one day?
We’re losing an estimated 100 million sharks annually, which may be as high as 270 million; there's no real way to count. That’s 30,000 an hour. It’s an incalculable amount. I wanted to know why -- what’s behind this? Who’s benefitting from this? I went all over the world to find the answers. I got in the water with sharks; I got on the boats with the fishermen; I talked to the shark traders in Hong Kong. And the answer is simple: greed. There’s no reason to have a shark out of the water. The meat is too toxic to eat. It’s all a lie, and the fishing industry wants to do everything it can to keep it going. But sadly, the sharks can’t populate fast enough. They breed similarly to humans. They will never recover if we don’t stop all shark fishing immediately. And we are already seeing the effects this summer. The toxic algae blooms? That’s because of a lack of sharks. I go into all this in my documentary, but the sharks keep the grouper in check, and without them, the grouper eat the parrotfish, who are responsible for maintaining the algae. Some beaches are unswimmable, and already dolphins and sea lions are dying and attacking because of the toxic algae blooms that are out of control with no way to stop them. The only solution is more sharks.
What role does the media play in conservation efforts?
Sadly, the media only reports when there’s a shark bite. They call it a shark attack, but the shark is investigating, thinking it's a sick or dying fish, and then usually releases after the bite. No one writes a news story saying a shark did nothing today except keep the ocean healthy!
50% of our oxygen comes from the ocean; the sharks ensure it gets to us. Without sharks, the algae blooms, smother the kelp, and the oxygen stays trapped.
