excerpt from Dick Ogg
Dick Ogg: Fisherman
Total run time: 9 minutes
Living and fishing in the Bodega Bay area for 55 years, Fisherman Dick Ogg is forced to confront the realities of a warming ocean, the creation of a Marine Projected Area in the local fishing grounds, and derelict crab pots. Dick wants to see organic sustainable fishing practices but daunting challenges are causing local fishermen to leave the profession. Here Dick faces these challenges with solutions and actions to keep the local fisheries alive.
Producers: Cynthia Abbott & Andrea Leland
Director: Cynthia Abbott
Camera, Sound, Color: Fabián Aguirre
Editor & 2nd Camera: Maya Pisciotto
Graphics: Michelle Abbott
“…a birds-eye view of what it’s like to be a Commercial Fisherman and what it’s like to be in and around the ocean. It informs viewers about important environmental issues that require creative solutions on the part of the fishermen, regulators, academics, and the community.”
– Brian Baird, Former California Assistant Secretary for Ocean Protection
“An amazing piece on Dick Ogg that raises awareness on this important topic.”
– Ryan Berger, Operations manager Marine Mammal Center
Selected Screenings & Awards
Big Sky Film Festival
International Ocean Film Festival, Best Short
St. John Film Society, U.S. Virgin Islands
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival
Doclands Film Festival
Rincon Film Festival, Directors Choice for Int’l Short Docs
Ocean Acidification Communication Toolkit: Dungeness Crab Case Study
Dungeness crab is a valuable species throughout the national marine sanctuaries of the West Coast from Washington state to throughout California. This communication toolkit is designed for educators and communicators to use to teach others about the impact of ocean acidification on Dungeness crab. The toolkit includes: fact sheet; infographic; PowerPoint slideshow with script; reference list; resource list; public domain video B-roll; and public domain images.
The NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries aims to provide teachers with resources and training to support ocean literacy in America’s classrooms. You will find curriculum, lesson plans and activities that will excite your students about science and technology.
Sustainable fishing guarantees there will be populations of ocean and freshwater wildlife in the future. To learn more visit National Geographic.
Reducing the Risk of Whale Entanglements in California
The California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group was assembled in 2015 after an unusual increase in entangled whales. Formed by California Fish and Wildlife, the group includes representation from commercial and recreational fishermen, environmental groups, state and federal agencies and the Marine Mammal Disentanglement Network. The group has been work to establish best management practices, explore new technologies and risk assessment programs to reduce entanglement risks.
As noted in the film, in 2019 the Dungeness crab fisheries was closed three months early, a result of a lawsuit filed in 2017 between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity due to an increase of whale entanglements in 2015/16 crab season that began in 2014/15. Whale entanglements are from all types of fishing gear but the increase in crab fishing gear was due to a change in whales migration and the opening of a late crabbing season due to an increase in domoic acid. The formation of the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group and their work to mitigate entanglements has been extremely successful. In 2019 only two entanglements have been reported from crab pots.
To learn more about the California Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group, click here.
Why does it matter where my seafood comes from?
Overfishing is the number one contributor to the decline in ocean wildlife populations. Overfished stocks globally has tripled in half a century and today fully one-third of the world’s assessed fisheries are currently pushed beyond their biological limits, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Unmanaged industrial fishing, which has been so efficient–and destructive–that many marine species will die off if we don’t act to help save them. The industry commonly uses large-scale dredging and bottom trawling equipment, which traps or crushes everything in its path. Only profitable varieties of seafood are kept, and everything else (“by-catch”) is discarded as waste.
By limiting our consumption to local species that are found in abundance and reproduce quickly, or by consuming fish caught using sustainable practices, we help preserve the health and diversity of life in our world’s oceans. You can do your part by supporting responsible fishing practices that will not only help make healthy food sources available for generations to come, it will also help protect the beauty and vitality of earth’s most precious resource.
For more information, view Best Seafood Choices Consumer Guides at Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.
To learn more about sustainable fisheries, click here.
What else can I do? We can all do our part to keep a healthy ocean and healthy fisheries. Click here to find ways you can take action.
C. Abbott