FISHING AND FISH FARMING
Today it is rarely disputed that fish feel pain, in fact evidence suggests that fish feel pain, fear and psychological
stress and have the capacity to suffer.1
Not only is fishing cruel but our demand for fish is unsustainable,
with many fish stocks on the verge of collapse.
Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish can easily be
gained from plant based sources. By switching
to a plant based diet you’re saying “no” to cruelty and giving the world’s
oceans and waterways a chance to recover.
State of the
Oceans
80% of the world’s fish stocks are either fully or
over exploited.2 In 2006 around 82 million tonnes of fish were
caught from the oceans, with a further 10 million tonnes caught from inland
waters.2 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) projects an increase in fish consumption of 40 million tonnes by 2030.2 A four year study published in the journal Science projects the collapse of all
fish stocks by the year 2048.3
In addition to dwindling fish stocks, the
biodiversity of the oceans are being lost too.
Coral reefs, “the rainforests of the sea”, are dying at an unprecedented
rate, averaging a loss of 600 square miles per year, (or 1% of the total),
since the late1960s.4 Tropical and subtropical coastal mangrove systems,
vital for healthy coral reefs, are being felled and converted to ponds for
prawns and shrimps destined for the Western market. 20% of the world’s mangrove systems have been
lost since 1980.5
Factory Fish
Farms
Some argue that the only way to meet the future
demand for fish is to farm them. Fish farming (aquaculture) is now the world’s fastest
growing food production industry, growing at nearly 9% a year since 1970.6
Both marine and freshwater fish are farmed. In 2006, 47% of the world’s food supply of fish came
from farmed fish.2
In salmon farms 50,000–75,000 fish can be crowded
together in a single underwater cage,7 resulting in each 75cm long
salmon having the equivalent of a bathtub of water to swim in.8 Trout are usually stocked at even higher densities
(as many as 27 trout to one bathtub).8 The stress caused by these
unnatural conditions (a wild salmon will swim thousands of miles to return to
its spawning ground) leads to physical injuries and increased susceptibility to
disease. Official figures show that mortality rates among farmed
fish are high, 20% of fish may die before they are 'harvested'.9
Disease
Parasites and disease are common problems for
intensively farmed fish. The large concentrations of fish in fish farms attract
sea lice, often causing such severe damage to the fish that the skull becomes
visible10, a condition known as ‘death crown’. Other diseases that affect
farmed fish include bacterial kidney disease, furunculosis, infectious
haematopoietic necrosis and kudoa (soft-flesh syndrome). Antibiotics are
administered in an attempt to keep disease at bay. The widespread use of antibiotics in
aquaculture has led to several strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria.11 Diseases from farmed fish
spread to nearby fish populations resulting in increased mortality in wild fish.12
Slaughter
In fish farms fish may be starved for up to two weeks
before slaughter13 to empty the gut and reduce the risk of their
flesh becoming contaminated during the gutting process. Slaughter methods include clubbing,
suffocation in air or on ice, percussion stunning or carbon dioxide stunning. Whichever method is used their gills are then
cut to enable the fish to “bleed out”.14
The
European Food Safety Authority stated in their 2004 report that “many existing
commercial killing methods expose fish to substantial suffering over a long
period of time”.15
It is not only the fish themselves that suffer. Every
year thousands of fish-eating species, including birds and seals, are shot by
fishermen and fish farmers. 3000-5000
seals are legally shot in Scotland
by fishermen16 and licences are issued for the shooting of cormorants.
17 100,000 albatrosses are killed on longline fishing
hooks every year.18
Unsustainability
Not only is the farming of fish cruel, it is also
very inefficient, since wild fish are often caught to feed farmed fish. More than three tonnes of wild-caught fish are
needed to produce one tonne of farmed salmon and the conversion ratio for
farmed halibut and cod is around 5:1. 19
Aquaculture operations may employ a range of other unsustainable
practices including, sourcing eggs and juveniles from the wild, using GM crops
in fish feeds, and increasing water pollution.20
The containment of alien species in fish farms cannot
be guaranteed. Escapes affect natural
fish populations by competing for food and resources or predating on wild
populations.21
Healthy and
Fish Free
Requirements for omega 3 fatty acids can be met by
just a teaspoon of flaxseed oil or one heaped tablespoon of ground flaxseed, or
1 tablespoon of hempseed oil or 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil a day.
References
1
Chandroo KP. Duncan IJH. et al. Can fish suffer? Perspectives on sentience,
pain, fear and stress. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2004; 86:
225-250
2
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). The state of world
fisheries and aquaculture 2008. Rome,
Italy: FAO;
2009 ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0250e/i0250e.pdf (accessed 1 October
2009)
3 Worm B. et al. Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem servicesScience 2006; 314: 787 DOI: 10.1126/science.1132294
4
Telegraph Online. Coral reef loss at unprecedented levels. 2007 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/08/08/eacoral108.xml (accessed 13 October 2008)
5 FAO Newsroom. Loss of mangroves alarming. 2008 http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000776/index.html
(accessed 14 October 2008)
6
FAO. The state of the world fisheries and aquaculture 2006. Rome, Italy:
FAO; 2007, p.16
7
Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) & World Society for the Protection of Animals
(WPSA). Closed Waters: The welfare of farmed Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout,
Atlantic cod and Atlantic halibut. Godalming, Surrey:
CIWF & WSPA; 2007, p.21
8
Lymbery P. In too deep: The welfare of intensively farmed fish. Godalming, Surrey: CIWF & WSPA; 2000, p.4
9
Fisheries Research Services. Scottish fish farms annual production survey. 2005 http://www.marlab.ac.uk/FRS.Web/Uploads/Documents/survey2005.pdf
(accessed 13 October 2008)
10
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (RCEP). Turning the tide:
addressing the impact of fisheries on the marine environment. Aberdeen: RCEP; 2004, p.141
11
FAO. Responsible use of antibiotic use in aquaculture. Rome, Italy:
FAO; 2005ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0282e/a0282e00.pdf
(accessed 15 October 2008)
12 Kroek M. Ford JS. et al. Declining wild salmon populations in relation
to parasites from farm salmon Science 2007;
318(5857): 1772-1775
13
CIWF & WSPA. 2007, p.9
14
FAO. Cultured aquatic species information programme - Salmo salar. 2004-2008 http://www.fao.org/fishery/culturedspecies/Salmo_salar
(accessed 15 October 2008)
15
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Opinion of the scientific panel on
animal health and welfare on a request from the commission related to welfare
aspects of the main systems of stunning and killing the main commercial species
of animals. EFSA; 2004 http://www.efsa.europa.eu/cs/BlobServer/Scientific_Opinion/opinion_ahaw_02_ej45_stunning_en.pdf?ssbinary=true
(accessed 14 October 2008)
16
Seal Protection Action Group. Scotland’s
secret slaughter. www.sealaction.org
(accessed 14 October 2008)
17
BBC Online. Cormorants culling under attack. 2005 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4199432.stm
(accessed 14 October 2008)
18
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) & Birdlife International. Save
the Albatross: the race is on. www.savethealbatross.net (accessed
15 October 2008)
19 Naylor RL. Goldburg RJ. et al. Effect of aquaculture on world fish
supplies. Nature 2000; 405: 1017-1024
20 Greenpeace. “Red-Grade” criteria for unsustainable aquaculture. http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/red-criteria-unsustainable-aquaculture.pdf
(accessed 13 October 2008)
21 Peres JE. Alfonsi C. et al. The introduction of exotic species in
aquaculture: A solution or part of the problem? Interciencia 2003; 28(4):
234-8