Pierre
Vanneste

DREMMWEL

[2020]

Since 1960, the world population has doubled, and changes in eating habits have drastically increased the amount of fish taken from the oceans for human consumption. To supply large-scale retailers, fishing boats navigate different zones depending on their target species.

The Northeast Atlantic is the fourth-largest fishing area globally, primarily exploited by European fleets, accounting for over seventy percent of Europe's catches. In the West Scotland area, life on large trawler factory ships revolves around hauls, motivated partly by fishing bonuses. The crews tally the tons and boxes processed to determine their earnings at the end of each trip. Further south, in the Bay of Biscay, small-scale fishermen sometimes use industrial techniques similar to those on large trawlers, like trawling and purse seining, reflecting the production and distribution methods they must follow.

In Senegal (Central East Atlantic), for decades, coastal communities have seen their seas gradually empty, transforming their future prospects. Alongside the ever-increasing local boats and pirogues, Chinese and European ships (both licensed and unlicensed) increasingly venture into these waters, targeting tuna, hake, and small pelagics. These small fish are often used to make fishmeal for aquaculture and poultry farming.

While in Europe, the independence and sustainability of the fishing profession are threatened by industrialization and professional lobbying, in West Africa, dwindling resources push many fishermen towards migration. This scarcity is due to both industrial fishing practices and climate change, which threaten marine ecosystems, hinting at a looming social and ecological disaster.

DREMMWEL is a transmedia documentary project to be discovered through a book connected to augmented video content (Yellow Now Editions, in partnership with Blinkl technology).