Last Catch

Director Markus C. Schmidt / Germany

European blue-fin tuna can grow to the size of a passenger car, up to 5m long and weighing up to 600 kg. Once a year, schools of them migrate from the Atlantic to spawning grounds in the Mediterranean. It is a well-established fact that tuna stocks now face imminent collapse. Yet they are still being fished during spawning season, interrupting the natural cycle of replenishment. The fishermen, too, are now facing extinction: While some have used questionable means to secure fishing licenses for still plentiful Libyan waters, the rest are left to trawl the already heavily over fished areas. A desperate fight for survival is coming to a head. Who will weather the storm?

• SiciliAmbiente, festival internazionale di documentari 2013