The Cod Game

In a unique portrait of a few fishermen in the Polish port of Darlowko, The Cod Game gives an inside view of the price paid to save the cod in the Baltic Sea. Over two turbulent years, the film follows the events that brought the Polish cod fishing fleet to the brink of collapse.

Marcin Cholewinski is the youngest and most fearless fisherman in Darlowko. His biggest dream is to continue an old family fishing tradition. Shortly after he bought his first boat, the European Union decided to punish Polish fishermen for many years of overfishing. A cod fishing ban is imposed.

But Marcin ignores the restrictions. Instead, he catches as much cod as he can. His confident attitude is encouraged by the local fisherman’s union, and Marcin takes the lead in the union’s struggle to preserve the small fisherman’s right to fish.