Billions of fish die every year in nets and on hooks. Some are destined for human consumption, while others are tortured just for sport, and others are unintended victims who are maimed or killed simple because they were in the wrong place.
When fish are pulled from the water, they began to suffocate. Their gills usually collapse and their swim bladders rupture because of the sudden pressure change. Numerous reports concur they feel pain.. their pain receptors are very similar to those of mammals. They do have the capacity for pain perception and suffering.
Sport fishers are responsible for killing almost a quarter of over-fished saltwater species. Many trout streams are so intensively fished that they require all fish be caught and released, making the fish spend their entire lives being injured and traumatized over and over again.
Fish that are released after being caught lose their protective scale coating that makes them vulnerable to disease, a dangerous build-up of lactic acid in their muscles, oxygen depletion, and damage to their delicate fins and mouths. According to one fishery expert, catch-and-release victims "could be vulnerable to predators, unable to swim away, or if nesting, not capable of fending off nest predators. Some guarding males could in fact abandon the nest. Researchers found that as many as 43 percent of fish released after being caught died within six days.
Due to ingestion of, and entanglement in marine debris, more that one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year. The number one killer of adult brown pelicans is discarded monofilament fishing lines. Pretty much every type of water or shore bird can get caught up in fishing.. including cormorants, anhingas, herons, egrets, and roseate spoonbills.
One out of every five manatee rescues conducted in the 1980s and 1990s was related to fishing-line entanglement, and during a four year span, at least 35 dolphins died from injuries that they sustained as a result of being tangled in fishing line.
The flesh of sea animals contains high amounts of fat and cholesterol. "Seafood" is one of the most common causes offood poisoning in the U.S., and almost 7 million Americans are believed to be allergic to it. Fish flesh can accumulate extremely high levels of carcinogenic chemical residues, such as polychlorinated biphenyls. The flesh of farmed salmon has seven times more PCBs than the flesh of wild-caught salmon.
Fish are the main if not only source of methyl mercury, a substance that has been linked to cardiovascular disease, fetal brain damage, blindness, deafness, and problems with motor skills, language, and attention span. Th Environmental Protection Agency and the FDA warn women of child-bearing age and children to refrain from eating fish such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel and to consume fewer than 12 ounces a week of other fish flesh because of mercury levels. Of course, the best way to avoid the dangers of mercury is to not eat fish at all.
When fish are pulled from the water, they began to suffocate. Their gills usually collapse and their swim bladders rupture because of the sudden pressure change. Numerous reports concur they feel pain.. their pain receptors are very similar to those of mammals. They do have the capacity for pain perception and suffering.
Sport fishers are responsible for killing almost a quarter of over-fished saltwater species. Many trout streams are so intensively fished that they require all fish be caught and released, making the fish spend their entire lives being injured and traumatized over and over again.
Fish that are released after being caught lose their protective scale coating that makes them vulnerable to disease, a dangerous build-up of lactic acid in their muscles, oxygen depletion, and damage to their delicate fins and mouths. According to one fishery expert, catch-and-release victims "could be vulnerable to predators, unable to swim away, or if nesting, not capable of fending off nest predators. Some guarding males could in fact abandon the nest. Researchers found that as many as 43 percent of fish released after being caught died within six days.
Due to ingestion of, and entanglement in marine debris, more that one million birds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year. The number one killer of adult brown pelicans is discarded monofilament fishing lines. Pretty much every type of water or shore bird can get caught up in fishing.. including cormorants, anhingas, herons, egrets, and roseate spoonbills.
One out of every five manatee rescues conducted in the 1980s and 1990s was related to fishing-line entanglement, and during a four year span, at least 35 dolphins died from injuries that they sustained as a result of being tangled in fishing line.
The flesh of sea animals contains high amounts of fat and cholesterol. "Seafood" is one of the most common causes offood poisoning in the U.S., and almost 7 million Americans are believed to be allergic to it. Fish flesh can accumulate extremely high levels of carcinogenic chemical residues, such as polychlorinated biphenyls. The flesh of farmed salmon has seven times more PCBs than the flesh of wild-caught salmon.
Fish are the main if not only source of methyl mercury, a substance that has been linked to cardiovascular disease, fetal brain damage, blindness, deafness, and problems with motor skills, language, and attention span. Th Environmental Protection Agency and the FDA warn women of child-bearing age and children to refrain from eating fish such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel and to consume fewer than 12 ounces a week of other fish flesh because of mercury levels. Of course, the best way to avoid the dangers of mercury is to not eat fish at all.
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