Newfoundland’s inshore fishermen and Alberta’s farmers live 6000 kilometres apart – but they share the same problems. Their livelihoods, passed down through generations, are threatened by industrialized agriculture, politics, development, and consumer ideology.
Fishing for Oil: The Future of Food From Land and Sea is an hour-long documentary that follows fishermen and farmers as they fight to save their traditional lifestyles.
For years, fishermen scientists warned of the dangers of overfishing. But those warnings were ignored and in 1992 Newfoundland’s cod fishing industry collapsed. To this day, the industry hasn’t recovered.
The result? Newfoundlanders are leaving their families and traditions behind and relocating to Alberta in a desperate search for work. And yet, paradoxically, extensive development in Alberta is causing concern amongst scientists and farmers.
Could Canada’s farmlands suffer the same fate as the cod fishery?
Fishing for Oil is distinctly personal. Our cameras follow fishermen and farmers as they work the land and sea, talk about the importance of their livelihoods, and suggest solutions for the future.
Set in the spectacularly scenic Cowboy Trail in southern Alberta, and the rugged landscape of St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, Fishing for Oil is image driven, with wide angles, large landscapes and slow edits. Present day visuals contrast with animation – representing futures ‘worst case scenario.’ The soundscape, created by award winning Newfoundland composer Duane Andrews, envelops the moods of the diverse locations.
Fishing for Oil: The Future of Food From Land and Sea, poses questions about the future while examining past ecological disasters and the consequences of making the same mistakes again. The viewer gets a personal account of these livelihoods, and a frightening glimpse at what could be our future.
