Lobster War 2019
Distributed by Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-FROG (3764)
Produced by David Abel and Andy Laub
Directed by David Abel
Streaming, 74 mins
College - General Adult
Commerce; Ecology; Fisheries; Politics; Sustainable Living
Date Entered: 01/06/2020
Reviewed by Angela Walker, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Eastern Connecticut State UniversityThe oceans are warming, and with it come changes in the marine ecosystem that directly affect the livelihood of fishermen and their communities.
Lobster War focuses on the lobster fishery in New England and chronicles the developments in this industry over the last two decades. With rising water temperatures, the lobster keeps moving north at a rate of approximately 4 miles per year, and the US lobstermen, trying to sustain their rate of catch, follow them up the Gulf of Maine into the Gray Zone. This water around the Machias Seal Island is the last disputed maritime area between Canada and the United States. The rising lobster population turns into a marine “gold rush” and results in growing contention between the Canadian fishermen of Nova Scotia and the US fishermen of Maine.
The film documents this escalating conflict through personal interviews of lobstermen from both countries that give a good perspective on the impact of a changing environment on fisheries. While the unresolved border dispute takes center-stage in the arguments of the lobstermen, as they are trying to defend their traditional way of life, the film supplements their viewpoints with scientific findings and presents the issue in a way that reaches far beyond geopolitical borders. This documentary takes a hard look at the economic and sociocultural effects of climate change by presenting this issue in one particular ecosystem, the Northeast lobster industry, in all its complexity and with an outlook into the future.
Lobster War provides a greater understanding of the problems we face as humanity. It leaves the viewer with the insight that climate change and its subsequent conflicts due to declining natural resources is an issue that concerns us all, and that we must join forces on finding solutions instead of pointing to borderlines and blaming an enemy for these ecological changes. This documentary, while not offering solutions to the examined conflict, affords an excellent starting point for discussion and exploration of solutions to similar issues.