Pelagic fish are both coastal and oceanic fish, below and above the continental shelf. Ranging from forage fish — think anchovies and sardines — all the way to predatory fish like swordfish, tuna, mackerel, and sharks, pelagic fish are in trouble from microplastics (MPs). The pelagic uptake of MPs is increasingly evident in predator-prey interactions, which means that food webs, including commercially viable fish and shellfish, are being compromised. This is serious because MP uptake produces ecological impacts in structurally complex coastal systems. Oh, yeah, and the potential of MPs to affect humans is no longer theory — MPs enter the deep lungs and airways of humans, become lodged or fixed, and cause either acute or chronic inflammation. The fate of pelagic fish as a result of MP update was the subject of short films at the 2026 International Ocean Film Festival at the Harbor Branch of the Florida Oceanographic Institute. I wrote about a number of these short films earlier this week, and I want to continue the inquiry by looking at three films that allowed us an up-close-and-personal view of researchers who are collecting data in the wide blue ocean in order to help us understand the consequences of our own daily plastic consumption. The Plastic Threat to Pelagic Fish Changing Seas: Whales in a Plastic Ocean – Alexa Elliott (USA) 27 min. Between the Azores and the Canary Islands in the eastern North Atlantic, the Portuguese island of Madeira rises from the depths of the open ocean. Madeira’s waters, which include Marine Protected Areas, are characterized by steep slopes, deep underwater canyons, and plateaus attracting cetaceans that normally occur in the open ocean close to the coast. Once a whaling hunting region, the ocean off Madeira is now a whale sanctuary. Despite its remote location, the archipelago is “not immune from plastic pollution,” according to research scientist Alexa Elliott. Marine life there faces tremendous pressure from ingesting plastic trash and being exposed to its toxicity. Researchers with MARE-Madeira are studying the effects that plastics and their chemical compounds have on the health of marine mammals that frequent these local waters. Scientists use net trolls to sample the first 20 cm of the water column. They test pelagic fish like mackerel by checking inside their stomachs and commonly find plastic fibers as they conduct the dissections. Then again, deep water whales have more plastics in their digestive tracks than do shallower diving marine animals like the mackerel. Plastic bags have a very similar acoustic signature to squid; in other words, the whales think they’re eating yummy squid when they’re really targeting plastics. “It’s a slow death — a horrible death,” a scientist grimaces in the film. The same chemicals that affect fish have common endocrine indicators with humans. Plastic ingestion has been documented in nearly 1,300 marine species, including every seabird family, marine mammal family, and sea turtle species. Everyday beach walkers in my condo community scour the incoming tide and wrack line for litter. It’s an ongoing battle to fight the plastic crisis — not just in our community but around the world. All litter that washes up on shore has a detrimental effect on the environment, but plastic bags are most insidious. It’s important for local citizens to recover plastics from beaches and shorelines to keep them out of the ocean currents so they are not affecting additional marine animals. The Bottom Line – Ben Mallaby (UK) 2 min. At first, I thought this short film was a commercial. Actor Theo James is sitting at a small table at an upscale restaurant. Portraying a dinner guest, James asks his server (actor Stephen Fry) — the former with a bit of haughtiness in his voice — if the fish had been caught sustainably. Absolutely, of course, without a doubt, the black-and-white clad server replies. Then the server explains the negative ramifications of the way that fish are being caught in the UK, including marine protected areas. Laura Lee Cascada, founder of the Aquaculture Accountability Project, lists how farmed fishing has actually increased overall fish consumption while failing to reduce, and even increasing, pressure on wild populations. The aquaculture industry has used deceptive marketing to position itself as environmentally sustainable while creating factory farms on water. Farmed fish operations often require wild-caught fish as feed, intensifying rather than reducing overfishing. Severe welfare concerns exist for sea animals in crowded, disease-prone farming operations. Environmental impact of open-net pens spread disease, waste, and antibiotics into surrounding waters is unacceptable. The impacts of such “sustainable” practices shocked the dinner guest in The Bottom Line. The Human Side of Plastic: Abby Barrows – Andrew Lynch, Ben Ayers, and Rush Sturges (USA) – 18min. Deer Isle, Maine is home to one of the world’s most productive lobster ports. In fact, 93% of all lobster harvested comes out of the Gulf of Maine. However, warming waters and invisible microplastic pollution threatens the future of lobster there. “This will affect every living being,” filmmaker Abby Barrows states emphatically. “The plastics we use and wear have the potential to be thousands of microplastics in the future.” She seeks to find solutions to the plastic crisis in her own community on Deer Isle. Traveling alongside a father and daughter team who pull lobster traps, they examine a variety of products that were once made of wood or spun fiber but are now constructed from plastic. They dissect fish and learn how even muscle areas are threaded with plastic fiber. She explains that fishing industries have converted lots of their equipment to plastic. The MPs interact with the environment in different ways. Together, they reimagine fishing without the use of plastics to make fishing more sustainable. “People call this era the ‘plastiocene,’ and, unless we make changes, we’re going to see it for a long time. If folks could reimagine the future of aquaculture without using plastic, we could all be better. we need more legislation around reducing plastic packaging and putting the responsibility on the producers who are creating the plastics.” Awareness is an important step in making these lasting changes. Resources “Exposing aquaculture’s cruelty with Laura Lee Cascada.” Our Hen House. January 2, 2026. “Flood-driven microplastics pollution and its ecotoxicological footprint in shallow marine habitats.” Shramana Koner, et al. Frontiers. April 21, 2026. “What are pelagic fish?” National Ocean Service. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association.
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