We love fish! 🐠 That's why they don't come to our plate!
But why shouldn't we eat fish? There are special seals of approval that confirm sustainable fishing, right? Not all fish is “bad”. Similar to other animals subjected to factory farming, fish are unethically fished and killed. Fish feel pain and suffering just like we humans do. We would like to tell you a few facts about industrial fishing.
Fact 1: Fish die from suffocation
Fish breathe through gills and logically cannot breathe above water, just as we cannot breathe underwater. If you put us under water for a long time, you can imagine how the fish feel when they are pulled out of the water. They usually do not receive anesthesia after being caught. Consequently, they die along with many others by cruel suffocation.
Many fish are even processed live. Crabs or lobsters, for example, are either thrown alive into boiling water or even eaten alive. All this despite studies saying that fish can also feel pain and suffering.
Fact 2: Bitter aftertaste: bycatch and plastic nets
The majority of fishing methods also involve large amounts of bycatch. These are often larger fish such as rays or sharks, but also mammals such as whales and dolphins, turtles and sea birds regularly die in the nets and lines. Depending on the fishing method, up to 90 percent can be bycatch.
Much of the fishing methods used in industrial fishing cause serious damage to the oceans. Various variants of bottom trawl nets, which are dragged along the seabed, are particularly widespread. They leave deep furrows in the seabed, destroy rock formations and coral reefs and thus the habitat of numerous species. The kilometer-long nets fish the seas empty and collect everything that swims around in the ocean.
Fact 3: Quality seals do not offer a guarantee
A widely used seal is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). According to the MSC, certified companies must fish sustainably and sustainably. Although they are committed to sustainability, they are repeatedly criticized. MSC still allows bottom trawls - so bycatch is still possible.
The SAFE seal stands for “deflin-safe” tuna. However, neither the overfishing of stocks nor the fishing method is taken into account.
Other certification systems such as ASC and GLOBAL GAP for aquaculture also have gaps, for example when it comes to the origin of the feed.
Some of the certified goods under these seals still come from overfished stocks. Environmental protection organizations such as WWF strongly criticize this. The quality seals also allow a low level of transparency about the origin of the seals.
Fact 4: Aquaculture is animal cruelty
The so-called aquaculture refers to the fish farming that is needed given the high demand and the dwindling number of fish in the sea. Thousands of fish are kept in a small space, swimming in cloudy water and sometimes in their own feces. In order to raise aquaculture fish, wild fish is needed, which is then fed to these fish.
In order to practice aquaculture, chemicals are used that are very harmful to the environment. In addition, leftover food, fish excrement and antibiotics from the open net cages end up in the rivers and seas.
Since diseases can spread more quickly in aquaculture (similar to factory farming), the fish are given antibiotics, which in turn are harmful to us humans.
Try our vegan fish substitute! 💙
