I think the second-most frequently asked question I hear (immediately after the protein question) is, “Do you eat fish?”
People, FISH ARE NOT VEGETABLES.
I (semi-)understand some of the ambiguity – There are many “vegetarians” who eat fish. And these vegetarians are confusing the heck out of people! Ok, I don’t want to get into semantics or labels here (but I’m just saying, vegetarians who eat fish are technically called pescatarians) because perfectly fitting into a category is not what vegetarianism is about. However, I do want to get into the disconnect between mammals and fish.
Understandably, it is much more difficult for us to imagine or empathize with the life of a fish, than the life of a pig or cow. I mean, they live underwater, something we can never experience, and we can’t really interact with them. They don’t cuddle or enjoy being pet by us, they don’t appear to show emotions, and they don’t even make any sounds so we have no way of knowing if they are experiencing pleasure or pain, or anything at all.
But here’s the thing – Fish are animals, just like you and me, and all animals feel pain. Even though they do not express their pain in ways that we recognize (or maybe they don’t express it at all), does not mean that they don’t feel it! Science backs me up here: A) Fish have central nervous systems. B) Pain is built-in defense mechanism that all animals have to protect themselves. C) Many studies/experiments have shown that fish feel pain. Here is one. Here is another one.
Mercy For Animals recently did an undercover investigation at a catfish farm in Texas. This video is what they found. (I dare you to watch this video and then tell me that fish don’t feel pain.)
For those who didn’t (or couldn’t) watch, the video shows:
- Workers using slicers and pliers to pull the skin off of live fish
- Fish flailing and struggling as their skin is pulled or sliced off
- Skinned fish still moving, gasping, and bleeding on the table
- Workers tearing (with their hands, not knives) the heads off live fish
In the US each year, approximately 8.4 billion fish are killed for food. Fifty percent of those are farm-raised. Not one single federal law exists to protect fish from abuse on aquaculture factory farms, during fishing events, or at slaughter. The next time you want to eat fish, imagine the pain it felt as its skin was ripped from its live, flailing body. Not very appetizing.
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Breakfast: Smoothie with bananas, peaches, almond milk, and ground flaxseed – which, by the way, is an excellent, cruelty-free alternative to fish oil as a source of omega-3!
Lunch: Thundercloud‘s Nada-Chicken Parm sub. Yum!
Dinner: Chalupas! With refried beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, cilantro, and salsa
5 comments
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Kasey says:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 11:21 am (UTC -5)
It’s been a month now and I am STILL irritated about the couple I had dinner with that introduced themselves as vegetarian then discussed ordering calamari. I really wouldn’t be so miffed if it were a callous-but-educated choice, but then the woman proceeded to tell me how she felt it was okay to eat fish because they’re “dumb” — which is (1) scientifically proven to be false and (2) not a justification anyway! By that logic, it’s okay to eat coma patients.
Excuse me for venting all over you, but it’s just nice to see someone else recognize the fact that fish suffer. Thank you for that!
Kasey´s last blog ..Things I dont understand
Rob says:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 6:14 pm (UTC -5)
Absolutely agreed. Fish have a brain and nervous system, so just like dogs, horses, and humans are able to consciously experience stimuli that trigger their senses. Just because many humans are not able (or refuse) to recognize how fish express their experience does not mean it doesn’t exist. In much the same way, I don’t know either the Mandarin or Serbo-Croat words for “OUCH!” but body language would convey the meaning. We can recognize pained body language in other species, and it is our responsibility as individuals to minimize the suffering of others. In my opinion that is also a responsibility of organizations, but sadly many organizations place profit before compassion, market share before earth share, and domination before altruism. We vote with our forks and with our wallets; eat and buy carefully.
Bea Ⓥ Elliott says:
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 7:55 pm (UTC -5)
I totally agree that it’s much harder to identify and sympathize with fishes… They are so “other” than we land dwelling beings. But regretfully I once hunted these beautiful sea creatures… :( And it’s not true that they don’t vocalize. Most fishes do! They croak, “mew” and yell when distressed. It’s as haunting a sound as a pig squeal.
Not that any of this information is helpful… After all, there are many people who can turn a deaf ear to the wailing of a cow or bleating of a sheep in order to “dumb out” the voices of their better judgment. Sad. :(
Bea Ⓥ Elliott´s last blog ..Invisible Birds – Forgotten Killing – I Only Eat a Little Chicken
Caitlin says:
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 11:27 pm (UTC -5)
Ugh! That video was awful. I couldn’t watch more than the first scene. Ok, I am going to have to rethink my decision to eat fish. Thanks a lot! ;-)
Powered By Produce says:
Wednesday, January 26, 2011 at 11:32 pm (UTC -5)
I know – I had to stop it after the first scene, then I made myself watch it all the way through. It was so awful.
Ditch the fish! You can do it!