Seaspiracy contributor and investigative journalist George Monbiot is furious with the RSPCA.
During an exclusive interview with VT, he tells me that the animal charity was actually lucky not to feature in his hit Netflix documentary.
The 90-minute film paints a damning portrait of commercial fishing. It also puts forward the argument that the best thing we can do to save the sea is to stop eating fish. Hence why so many people that have seen the documentary are now vowing to go vegan.
But how does the RSPCA come into this?
'Unspeakable cruelty'
George tells me: "This is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and they are giving their stamp of approval to organizations that are unspeakably cruel.
"Every year, the RSPCA certifies two hundred million salmon that really shouldn't be certified and it also endorses the shooting of seals by salmon farms – well, it has done in the past."
Clearly frustrated with the situation, an exasperated George goes on to point out that the RSPCA has won public praise for rescuing orphaned seal pups.
While that of course should be commended, he claims that what people don't realise is that the charity could well have been responsible for the deaths of the pups' parents.
Despite his issues with the RSPCA, George emphasises there are other organizations doing fantastic work to protect the oceans.
"Support Sea Shepards and support Greenpeace," he advises. "These are two organizations that are actually doing their jobs.
"I'd love to say support the other ones, but I wouldn't give them a penny.
"Lobby for protection. There are people, even in this [British] government, who are really worried about the state of the seas, and there is some possibility of pushing through change if we can get through a big enough lobby."
What Seaspiracy doesn't tell you
During our interview, I ask George if there are any important issues we should know about that aren't discussed in Seaspiracy. That's when he drops a disturbing bombshell – scallop dredging.
Scallop dredging is a horrifying and damaging practice that the Netflix documentary doesn't cover.
As George explains: "[Scallops] are obviously a very luxurious food. They are not caught by nets. They are actually caught by something much worse. Dredges with teeth that scrape through the seafloor.
"Most people couldn't afford to eat scallops. But if you can, only go for the ones which are hand-dived and picked off the seabed, but it's probably safe to just not eat them."
With that in mind, is it time we seriously considered taking seafood off the menu permanently?
A scalloped dredger is pictured below.
Seaspiracy and veganism
After watching Seaspiracy, people around the world are vowing to stop eating fish and become vegan to save the oceans.
However, while the Netflix documentary does not endorse the eating of seafood in its current form, George stresses that it actually doesn't have to be off the menu forever.
As he explains: "There's a huge drive now toward lab-grown foods, milk, eggs, and fish. It won't be long until it's just as easy and cheap to grow fish in a factory as it is to catch it.
"Then there's no cruelty involved. There's no exploitation of the sea. And people can eat fish that's not full of dangerous substances because you can control that in the factory."
But just because fish doesn't necessarily have to be off the menu, George stresses that people still need to think twice about where their food comes from.
In Seaspiracy, George refers to scientific literature that shows that the theft of fish stocks is responsible for Ebola outbreaks in West Africa.
During our chat, I ask if he thinks Covid-19 may encourage people to start thinking more when it comes to their food.
"I'd really like to think so," he says. "I think there is some evidence that is the case. We've really come to value nature during the pandemic.
"But also we know that Covid-19 was caused by the exploitation of nature and animals.
"Ebola similarly was caused by the bushmeat trade, and, as I said in the film, that was bizarrely caused by the theft of fish stocks as people went hungry, and they turned to bushmeat for protein instead."
Should animal charities endorse veganism?
As we discuss the potential benefits of vegan diets, George criticises the RSPCA again. He tells me: "The RSPCA is not endorsing veganism, I mean, that would be a pretty good start if you want to stop being cruel to animals."
Taking his comments on board, following our chat, I contacted the RSPCA for its response to George's concerns. A spokesperson responded by telling that "many RSPCA staff and volunteers choose not to eat animal products".
The spokesperson then explained that the charity currently has a policy of "urging people to Eat Less, Eat Better. To eat fewer animal products, and, if they do, to choose higher welfare options."
Reacting to George's previous comments, the RSPCA spokesperson added: "Our mission to drive up welfare standards for farmed animals is a huge priority of ours.
"There has been a huge rise in the demand for Scottish salmon with millions of fish now reared every year.
"We have been working hard for almost 20 years to introduce more than 500 welfare standards, where none previously existed."
The spokesperson continued: "We wholeheartedly agree that any seal shot is one too many, and our standards for farmed salmon previously prohibited shooting of seals before it became illegal in January this year, with the only exceptions being as an absolute last resort to prevent fish suffering when being attacked.
"We don't want any seals to be shot. But neither do we want hundreds or thousands of salmon – which can feel pain and suffer distress – to suffer and die in a seal attack."
The impact of Seaspiracy
Since the release of Seaspiracy on March 24, George has been delighted by the response. He tells VT that he spent three decades attempting to have a similar documentary made.
"I spent 30 years until I gave up taking proposals to the BBC, saying 'let's make this hard-hitting documentary'. But every one was rejected with a tirade of filthy language," he adds.
"Maybe because they were deeply threatened by anything that threatens the status quo and the consumer dream, but Seaspiracy has shown that people do want to [know]."
Seaspiracy is available to stream now on Netflix.
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