Synopsis
THE NET is an unvarnished, close-up documentary that follows four bottom-trawl fishermen off the coast of Spain. Filmed on board in the rhythm of their everyday lives, it captures the raw atmosphere of early mornings, long hours and the physical strain of life at sea. The camera stays close, offering an intimate glimpse into the realities of life aboard a trawler.
The documentary confronts the viewer with images of dead fish, discarded bycatch, and the wastefulness of the practice. For the men aboard, bottom trawling is an efficient way of fishing. Their perspectives are set alongside those of marine scientists and conservationists, revealing a fundamental difference in how the practice and its consequences are understood.
The fishermen are not portrayed as villains, but as individuals whose livelihoods are tied to a system that is threatening the very ecosystem they rely on.
The disconnect between the fisher’s lived experience and the environmental con-sequences of their work is at the core of the film’s tension. With its grounded tone and unscripted access, THE NET offers a nuanced look at a practice that is both a source of livelihood and a threat. It challenges viewers to confront the uncomfortable reality of where our seafood comes from
A story that needed
to be told
Filmmaker Perspective
When I first learned about bottom trawling and the scale of its destruction I was shocked by how little public attention was being given to it. I became determined to document what this practice actually looks like at sea, who it affects, and why it continues – even inside areas meant to protect marine life.
Eventually I had the chance to step aboard a commercial trawler off the coast of Spain to document it firsthand, with Klaudyna Brzostowska joining me. What we witnessed was difficult to comprehend: endangered sharks, rays, juvenile fish, coral and countless other marine organisms were caught as bycatch in the net, many of them thrown back overboard dead.
For me it was one of the most difficult experiences of my career – and one of the most important. The environmental damage was undeniable. But the more time I spent on board, the more complicated the story became. The fishermen depend on the sea for their livelihoods, yet there was a striking disconnect between how they understood the impact of their fishing and the damage it was causing to the marine ecosystem. That tension became central to the film.
THE NET is not intended to condemn individual fishermen, but to reveal the consequences of a practice that puts both the future of fishers and the marine ecosystem at risk. We want to bring bottom trawling into a wider public and political conversation, particularly its continued use in marine protected areas. We strongly believe that destructive fishing practices have no place in areas meant to protect marine life. But any meaningful change also has to consider the people whose livelihoods depend on fishing.
