We now have a 24/7 documentary channel. Thanks DirecTV!

Some recent documentaries (or documentary style movie) I have recently watched include Life, Maxed Out, Super Size Me, The Blue Planet, Tim Janis’ Beautiful America, The 11th Hour and many more. I have both the Documentary Channel and Netflix (I stream via my Roku). I watch documentaries all the time. Yeah, I’m a nerd and proud of it! LOL!

Recently I watched a documentary called “The End of the Line: Where Have All the Fish Gone?“. It’s by Rupert Murray and its narrated by Ted Danson (Cheers).

Wow… you’ll NEVER look at fish the same way again.

When I first popped the DVD into the player I was expecting the documentary to be more of a “How to” on being Earth friendly when it came to fish and fishing. OH MY! No way! By the end of the movie I wanted to toss out all the Tuna, Salmon and even the Fish Sticks that we had in our home.

I may not know much but I do know that fishing is done all over the world. For many of the world’s peoples fishing is the only source of food. In other parts of the world fishing is the only source of economy for millions of families.

When I think “fishing” two things come to mind. Either I think back to my childhood when me and my cousins would go fishing in the pond behind their neighbor’s house or I think about the part in “Finding Nemo” when Nemo and Dory got caught up in the fishing net. If only it the truth was more like that.

Ever since large scale fishing was developed back in the 1950′s we have been depleting and destroying the world’s fish population. Fishing is a MAJOR industry. I knew it was a big industry but it wasn’t until I watched the documentary that I really just how truly MASSIVE the fishing industry is. I don’t see how little coastal village can compete against the industrial “monsters” out dredging every inch of the ocean looking to capture fish. These big time companies use the latest technologically advanced equipment to find where the fish are, including airplanes. They are merciless too! Their nets destroy fragile coral reefs and capture so many innocent sea creatures such as whales, sharks, birds, sea turtles and sea lions. Most of these poor creatures die while trying to escape the fishers nets. Seven million tons of the non-fish catches are tossed back into the ocean each year. Think about that amount – SEVEN MILLION TONS! Even typing this makes my stomach nauseous.

Just one large trawling net can accommodate up to thirteen 747 airplanes!

It’s no wonder that nothing is safe in the ocean, and that includes both edible and non-edible sea life.

The fishing industry is depleting the ocean’s supply of fish quicker then the fish can reproduce.

Think about the oil spill in the Gulf and how many fish are dying, not to mention how many will be contaminated and not for human consumption (yet they might make it into a fish stick some day!).

Some countries have policies in place that are suppose to help product the fish population, including fishing quotas, but these rules are rarely enforced and most fishing companies totally ignore them. After all it’s all about the mighty dollar. The fishing industry makes billions of dollars world wide. They are not about to stop in order to save the lives of other sea creatures nor do they worry about depleting the worlds fish supply. Of course in another 50 years or so when there are no more fish left in the sea, who’ll have the last laugh?

- Ask before you buy. Eat only sustainably harvested seafood. You can find a great guide here, http://www.seafoodwatch.org/.

The documentary did offer other suggestions but I can’t see how they would be enforced, especially if companies are totally ignoring the rules to begin with.

One suggestion was to set aside a large area of the ocean where fishing was totally banned. That is a great idea but who would enforce it? Plus how can you set up an area where fishing was not allowed and expect fish to know where it needs to go to be safe? It’s not like fish in the Pacific Ocean can figure out it needs to go to the lower Atlantic to be safe.

Other suggestions include limiting the amount of time vessels are allowed to fish or limit the amount of pounds they can haul in. They sound well and good but would people really abide by them?

Some companies are doing their part to help the situation. By next year Walmart plans on selling only fish approved by the Marine Stewardship Council, a board that certifies sustainable fishing. Most of McDonalds fish is MSC approved and 2/3 of Birds Eye fish are from sustainable sources as well.

The documentary left me with a sick feeling in my stomach just thinking about the worst case scenarios. And although the film footage was visually stunning (the underwater scenes) some scenes, like when the fishermen would kill the fish and other creatures unfortunate enough to get caught in the nets. Seeing rivers of blood streaming down the deck of the ships it’s enough to make you want to vomit, cry and scream – all at the same time!

The End of the Line is available where most DVDs are sold.

For more information please visit:

- http://www.endoftheline.org/
- http://www.seafoodwatch.org/

Bath and body products are one of the ways in which I pamper myself. I love shower gels, sugar scrubs, scented soaps and soaking salts.

Sometimes pouring some Epsom salt in the bath feels really good but it’s much nicer when you can add a scent salt into your tub to soak in.

I had the opportunity recently to review a sea salt soak product from a company named Touch’d (http://www.touchd.net/). Their salt soak product is made with salt derived from the Dead Sea.

Did you know that salt soaks are a great way to relieve sore muscles, alleviate stress, and rejuvenate your body and mind. Sea salts are also known to help with Psoriasis. I suffer from Eczema on occasion which isn’t as bad as Psoriasis but equally as frustrating to deal with.

To enter please visit the Touch’d website and comment on what scent you would like to have for the body butter. Please make sure to pick carefully because if you are the winner this is the scent I’ll submit for your prize.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes so that you never miss out on great giveaways. Both options are found about 1/3 of the way down on the right side bar. I ♥ my subscribers and followers.

- Become a fan (“Like”) Touch’d on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

- Follow Touch’d on Twitter (CLICK HERE).

- Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter. Please include BOTH @She_Scribes in the tweet (so I can see it too) as well as the hashtag #Touchd.

This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents and will end on July 5, 2010 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Box) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don’t forget about the other great giveaways found on the right side bar under “Win It”.