Animal agriculture and the meat community are used to dealing with “documentaries” popping up that we would say do not exactly document reality. The rise of streaming entertainment platforms has only exacerbated this issue, as having to make a trip to the movie theatre or Blockbuster is a thing of the past. Now people need to do nothing more than find their remote and open up Netflix to find something to watch, and unfortunately a lot of what is available to them isn’t positive for animal agriculture and meat. In recent years films like “Cowspiracy,” “What the Health,” and “The Game Changers” have gotten a significant amount of attention and contributed to the spread of misinformation about sustainability and the role of meat, poultry, dairy and eggs in a healthy, balanced diet.

Now, it’s aquaculture’s turn. The makers of “Cowspiracy” just released “Seaspiracy,” which takes aim at fisheries and seafood consumption. Similar to how its predecessors denigrated animal agriculture, the film criticizes the aquaculture community using false claims, refuted studies and misinformation about subjects such as fisheries bycatch, overfishing and fish farming.

The film's ultimate call to action is to ditch seafood altogether in favor of plant-based alternatives. The documentary has been refuted by credible entities such as the University of Washington, and several participants who were interviewed have said their words have been misrepresented.

We know this won’t be the last film to criticize our food system. The same filmmakers are working on films about “animal-to-human viruses” and “racial and food injustice”. All of us in the animal protein community will need to be ready to swiftly debunk these films and prevent their claims from being taken as fact.

Seafood gets a turn in the 'documentary' spotlight

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