Why should we talk about fish?

Billions of fish and other marine animals are killed every year to be eaten. Although these animals have nervous systems similar to our own and can feel pain, they are usually slaughtered without regard for their welfare and denied even the basic rights of protection afforded to land animals raised for food. As a result, fish suffer terribly in nets, at the end of hooks and on the decks of fishing boats, where they are slowly suffocated or cut open while still conscious.

The human appetite for seafood also has a huge environmental cost, as fishing vessels destroy the world's oceans, leaving them empty, lifeless and on the brink of ecological collapse.

Fish have feelings

Just because they look different from us and have scales instead of skin and gills instead of lungs, fish are often misunderstood. But we have many things in common with the animals that live underwater - for example, they often live in complex social groups, have distinct personalities, are able to learn and remember new information, develop deep personal relationships and experience pain and fear when they are harmed. They show affection by rubbing against each other and communicate using a range of low-frequency sounds.

Leading scientists agree that fish feel pain. As biologist Victoria Braithwaite writes, "there is as much evidence that fish feel pain and suffer as there is for birds and mammals" - a conclusion that is hardly surprising to anyone who has seen a fish fight for its life when pulled from the water.

A terrible death

The fishermen throw the fish they have caught into ice bunkers on the deck, where they slowly suffocate, freeze or are crushed to death - a terribly cruel and prolonged way for these cold-blooded animals to die. Scientists estimate it can take up to 15 minutes for them to lose consciousness. Other fish have their gills slashed or their throats and stomachs cut open while still alive on decks awash with blood.

Fish pulled up from deep water often suffer from rapid decompression, which can burst their swim bladders, rupture their eyes or force their internal organs out through their mouths. And in catch-and-release fisheries, up to 43% of fish do not survive the trauma of being speared on a hook and hoisted out of their natural environment.

More fish in the sea?

As humans pull fish out of the sea by the billions, fish numbers are drastically declining and many species are close to extinction. Commercial fishing vessels are also causing unimaginable damage to the marine environment. Massive trawlers with nets the size of football pitches are destroying coral and sea plants on the seabed and swallowing up all life in their path, including sea urchins, dolphins, crabs, turtles and seals. In longline fishing, ships reel in lines up to 75 miles long that are filled with deadly hooks. Giant drift nets are invisible to most fish and hang in the water like a "wall of death", trapping any animals that swim into them.

Factory farming

Many of the fish eaten in Denmark come from farms where, like all factory-farmed animals, they are subjected to intense confinement, filthy conditions, mistreatment and high levels of diseases and parasites such as sea lice. The fish are kept in underwater cages and never have the opportunity to swim freely or exercise their natural instincts, such as the salmon's strong urge to migrate upstream each year. And they can be killed by being beaten with clubs or having their gills cut without anaesthetic.

Fish farmers add chemicals and antibiotics to fish feed in an attempt to counteract the harmful effects of crowding and with drugs that unnaturally speed up growth. These substances harm the fish themselves, the people who eat their flesh and the local environment by polluting the water. Fish farming is also unsustainable: to raise a salmon on a farm, for example, three times the weight of wild fish must be used as feed.

Crustaceans

Lobsters and crabs used for food are often subjected to one of the cruellest fates any animal can suffer - being boiled alive. Being thrown into a pot of boiling water while still conscious hurts these sentient animals as much as you'd expect, and they show it by scratching frantically at the sides of the pot for up to a minute before dying in terror.

Some chefs also cut them up without painkillers. And before they are killed, the naturally solitary lobsters are stacked on top of each other in small tanks. Their cloven hocks are tied together to prevent them from tearing each other apart as they are driven mad by the intense, unnatural confinement.

Dangerous fish?

Fish often live in water so dirty you'd never drink it. Their bodies absorb a toxic mix of bacteria, pollutants and heavy metals - which are then passed on to anyone who eats them. Seafood and tuna can contain high levels of mercury due to industrial pollution, sometimes causing mercury poisoning in humans: Symptoms include hair loss, cognitive impairment and increased risk of heart disease.

As for the health benefits of omega-3 essential fatty acids, it's entirely possible to get plenty of these from plant sources. Walnuts, flaxseeds, soybeans and cauliflower all contain these essential nutrients without a toxic dose of chemicals and cruelty.

What you can do

It's simple - you can cut down or drop seafood from your diet. By doing so, you will save the lives of many animals and reduce the profits of a global industry that harms millions of sentient beings every day and is responsible for the destruction of our environment.

While you're at it, why not try a plant-based diet and renounce cruelty altogether? Join our 22-day vegan challenge at VeganerUdfordringen.dk.