- Recent scientific studies have found that fish do feel and react to pain.
- Overfishing has depleted the world’s fish stocks to such an extent that it is believed that there will be no fish stocks left in the oceans after 2048. See also the videos in the links below.
- Approximately 60% of the fish caught in trawler nets are discarded as ‘by-catch’. Fishery biologists estimate fish that end up being thrown back amount to around 60% of commercial fisheries’ total catch. Of these, many of the round fish species are dead by the time they reach the water again. When taken from the sea involuntarily, their swim bladders inflate and crush other organs. Up to 800,000 tons of marine animals are thrown back from fishing boats each year in the North Sea alone, amounting to around one-third of the region’s entire catch.
- Fish farming also causes distress to fish as they are confined in a small space. There is also a high risk of disease in these systems and there is no doubt that fish suffer as a result.
- Fish farms are also a source of pollution and thus pose an additional threat of contamination to the human population.
- Fish farming is also extremely wasteful as it takes 2 to 5 pounds of wild-caught salmon to produce just 1 pound of farmed salmon, for example.
Related links:
- ‘Do Fish Feel Pain‘ – by Victoria Braithwaite
- Fish Feel Pain
- Lobsters do feel pain
- Crabs can feel pain
- Fish do feel pain – by Marc Bekoff
- What is pain to a fish
- The suffering of fish – from Animal Aid
- 9 Things Everyone Should Know About Farmed Fish
- Sea Shepherd and Sea Shepherd Ireland
- Fish Experience Pain with Striking Similarity to Mammals
- Electric Fishing kills 57% of the seabed’s population
Videos:
- Empty Oceans: Is the world running out of fish?
- Seaspiracy – horrible facts about fishing and ocean
- The Cove – a documentary about the culture of dolphin hunting in Japan
