Habitat Media (USA)
Habitat Media's mission is to encourage citizen, consumer and industry involvement in conservation efforts and sustainable development. It was formed as a multi-media group in 1999 specifically to produce television documentaries and other educational components that complement these programs. Several of Habitat Media's productions have encouraged consumer awareness as a positive market incentive for changing the way fisheries operate. Habitat Media has also provided footage for breaking stories on marine conservation issues to television and cable networks.
Productions include:
- Empty Oceans, Empty Nets: the first program in a series of two 60-minute television documentaries that
examine the global marine fisheries crisis and efforts to implement sustainable fishing practices.
- Farming the Seas: the sequel to Empty Oceans, Empty Nets, is another one-hour documentary exploring the problems and potentials of raising various species of fish and shellfish. Can marine aquaculture take pressure off the oceans, or does it result in a net loss of marine resources? The Habitat crew travels around the world to document new endeavours to meet the ever-growing demand for seafood.
- The Seafood Story: a 15-minute educational resource video for use in marine aquaria and schools. The film provides and overview of the global fisheries crisis and an introduction to new initiatives that give consumers and citizens a powerful vote on how oceans are fished.
1 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (1998) (on-line). Ecological Effects of
Fishing by Brown, S., Auster, P. J., Lauck, L. & Coyne, M. NOAA's State of the Coast Report. Silver
Spring, MD. 2 Coutin, P., Conron, S. & MacDonald, M. (1995). The daytime recreational fishery in Port Phillip Bay
1989-1994, Victorian Fisheries Research Institute, Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources, Queenscliff.3 Conron, S. & Coutin, P. (1998). The recreational snapper catch from Port Phillip Bay: a pilot survey
of the boat-based fishery 1994/1995, Marine and Freshwater Institute, Internal Report No. 11,
MAFRI, Queenscliff.4 Hobday, D., Officer, R. & Parry, G. (1999). Changes to demersal fish communities in Port Phillip Bay,
Australia, over two decades 1970-1991. Mar. Freshwater Res., Vol. 50, pp.397-407.
5 Zann, L.P. (1995). Our sea, our future: The State of the Marine Environment Report for Australia.
Department of Environment, Sport and Territories, Commonwealth of Australia.
6 Fox, Michael W., D.V.M., Ph.D. (1987). Do Fish Have Feelings?, The Animals' Agenda, July/August,
pp. 24-29.
7 Farm Animal Welfare Council (1996). Report on the Welfare of Farmed Fish. Ministry of Agriculture,
United Kingdom.
8 The Northern Star newspaper, Lismore, 3/9/2003.
9 The study can be downloaded from www.seaturtles.org/prog_camp2.cfm?campaignID=20.
10 Consumers Union (1992). Is Our Fish Fit to Eat?, Consumer Reports, February.
Australian Conservation Foundation (2002). Trawling the options, Habitat Australia, October, Vol. 30, No. 5.
Fishing – What's wrong with it?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
Ocean Resources. Case study by Kim Kerr
Longman Atlas Companion Website
Save the Albatross
Birdlife International
Seabird by-catch - Ending the slaughter
Media Release (25 January 1998)
Senator Robert Hill
Leader of the Government in the Senate
Minister for the Environment
Trawling the seas at what cost? Scraping bottom
An information packet on bottom trawling
American Oceans Campaign
The Fish Business
Animal Aid UK
Marine Campaign
Victorian National Parks Association
By-Catch
Script of "Ocean Planet," a 1995 Smithsonian Institution travelling exhibition
Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project
The incidental killing and capture of marine wildlife
Greenpeace
