We had to fight for several years to get this documentary broadcast on a major channel. The journalist Pierre Nyga had the courage to show, for planet e on ZDF, the current state of sharks in Europe. A subject that has always preoccupied us, but which very rarely finds its way into the attention of the general public.
Extensive research, numerous background discussions, and also ethical considerations accompanied our work with Pierre Nyga and marine biologist Lukas Müller: what can be shown and what cannot? What is too harsh and what is acceptable? What conveys the message, and what merely repels, causing viewers to switch off?
The result is a truly courageous documentary about the actual dying of sharks in Europe. The sell-out of the Atlantic is progressing rapidly, in the most brutal manner. The circumstances have been known for years, even occupying the EU Commission, but have been ignored in daily life for years: this is how sharks die, well over 100 million worldwide every year! Ethically completely unjustifiable, yet industrially organised under the guise of job creation, with profit margins akin to the narcotics trade.
The half-hour documentary is not suitable for children, but highly recommended for adults. It opens eyes (and, for people with a decent moral stance, also hearts).
In the ZDF Mediathek: Blutige Flossen - das stille Sterben der Haie
