Going Crazy, with Feeling: Anchovy Summer

Synopsis

A splendid beginning for the anchovy catch. It is summertime in the calm Gulf of Gascony. The fleet is cheerfully at work, the decks full of wriggling anchovies, the wholesale fish markets buzzing. We are on board the trawlers for only a few days when rumors begin to arrive over the ship radio. Protests in the streets of Spain, hostilities break out, the lawmakers in Brussels get involved, fishing may be halted… French boats stop their work… In a few short days, the world of the anchovy fishermen has been turned upside down. The beautiful June sky falls in on the owners and workers who count on making their year’s living during this season. The future looks bleak. We spend the summer with these fishermen. We share their point of view, necessarily biased and limited. It makes sense. We do what we must.