film

The Perils of Plectropomus

User Rating	1 2 3 4 5
Producer(s)	Australian Broadcasting Corporation Science Unit
Director(s)	Richard Smith
Release Date	2000
Runtime	56 min
Format(s)	video
Youth Media	no

Film Description

Scientists have pieced together the dramatic, precarious life-cycle of reef fish like plectropomus, the coral trout. Today it's not just the natural environment that threatens them; it's the impact of humans.

Traditionally fresh fish-eaters, people in the Far East have now developed a taste for live reef fish, attracted by their spectacular color and markings. A live plectropomus can bring in big bucks. After World War II, fishermen used dynamite to catch reef fish. Today they use cyanide to catch them live.

It's our appetite, in addition to global warming, that now threatens plectropomus, and everything on the living reef.