Like The Cove and Blackfish, The Dark Hobby follows conservationists and scientists who will stop at nothing to protect what’s underwater. The Dark Hobby tracks the turbulent crusade to save the reef life at stake in an age old struggle that pits conservation against commerce. Aquarium trade extraction, an industry worth billions, has devastated reef species and habitat globally. Aloha from Hawaii continues the fight.
A Hawaii Circuit court upheld the Supreme Court ruling in early 2021 that the aquarium trade must end. The relentless ten year legal battle unravels and weaves neatly through The Dark Hobby.
Paradise Filmworks International production in association with Rhino Films and Earthworks Films. Executive producers are Robert Wintner of Snorkel Bob’s, Stephen Nemeth of Rhino Films, Oscar winner Maria Florio, and producer/director Paula Fouce. Co-producers are Benjamin Zuckerman, George Pierce, William Haugse and Timothy Kettle. Editors are Timothy Kettle and William Haugse, Oscar nominee for Hoop Dreams. Original Music composed by Luciano Storti. Underwater videography and photos from Indonesia, Palau, the Philippines, Cuba, St. Croix and Hawaii are by Keith Christie and Robert Wintner.
Featuring Kimokeo Kapalehuahua, kupuna and Robert Wintner, reef activist, AKA Snorkel Bob. Willy Kaupiko is Mayor of Millolii, Hawaii’s last working fishing village. Kaimi Kaupiko is a teacher and Hawaiian practitioner. Gail Grabowsky is Director of Environmental Studies at Chaminade University. A Martinez hosts Take Two on KPCC radio, LA. Jonathan Balcombe is author of What a Fish Knows. Ben Williamson, formerly of PETA, is now with World Animal Protection. Teresa Telecky, Vice President at Humane Society International, and Jessica Wooley was instrumental in passing Senate Bill 1240, halting Hawaii’s aquarium trade.
Synopsis
Today Hawaii is ground zero in the worldwide struggle to save reef wildlife. The Dark Hobby follows a group of Native Hawaiian Elders, conservationists and scientists who will stop at nothing to ensure the survival of these stunning tiny creatures that are targets of a global trade worth $4 – 5 billion. These heroes valiantly fight reef degradation, exploitation, and ensure the survival of marine habitat and species.
In the spirit of Blackfish and The Cove, The Dark Hobby is an expose of the death of exotic fish, the reef and the ocean at the hands of the aquarium trade. When most people see beautiful fish in aquariums, they don’t realize how the sea creatures got there. Ornamental fish are a key part of the marine wildlife hierarchy living on the reef. Some species have already been driven to extinction, while others are severely diminished by collectors. The exotic fish are herbivores who live by eating the algae growing on the coral, this maintains balance in the ocean’s ecosystem. Reefs produce 50% of Earth’s oxygen. Without these fish, reefs die of algae overload, and over 2/3 of the aquarium trade’s catch are herbivores. When these fish are taken off the reef, the coral dies. Reef demise is a microcosm of death in our oceans.
When collectors loot the fish for hobbyists’ tanks, some even use cyanide to stun the fish, and dynamite to blow up the coral. Collectors cut their fins, pierce their swim bladders with needles, starve them and seal them in plastic bags to ship globally with only a minimum of water to survive on their way to retail sale and mainland mortality. 90% of these creatures die within a year of capture, creating a demand for replacement. They live for decades in the wild. Recent scientific research confirms that fish have feelings, experience pain, recognize human faces, communicate, make plans together to hunt and sing various emotions!
The Dark Hobby is produced by Paula Fouce; Executive Producers include Robert Wintner, renowned marine activist and founder of Snorkel Bob’s Hawaii; Academy Award winner Maria Florio and Stephen Nemeth, Founder of Rhino Films. Co- Producers are Benjamin Zuckerman, UCLA Professor Emeritus of Astro Physics and former Sierra Club Director, William Haugse and Timothy Kettle. George Pierce is Associate Producer. Timothy Kettle and William Haugse, Academy Award nominee for Hoop Dreams, edited. Luciano Storti penned the original score.
The Humane Society of the United States, PETA, and other organizations are featured in The Dark Hobby and are partnering in efforts to alert people globally to what has gone too long undetected underwater but will no more. The aquarium trade has decimated reef species and habitat for decades with no limits, no limit on the number of catchers, and no constraint on rare, endemic or vanishing species. Reef advocates fight to end aquarium extraction from natural habitat. Reef-based tourism generates about a billion annually in Hawaii alone. At any given moment, 28 million fish are in the aquarium trade pipeline from point of capture to home-hobbyist tank.
The Dark Hobby film is now available on the following platforms!
- Apple TV
- GooglePlay
- iTune
- VUDU
- YouTube
- Vimeo
For information, please visit https://thedarkhobby.com.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media