This factsheet was completed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)  . Please direct any questions or comments to PETA directly at 757-622-7382 or info@peta.org.

Fishing & Fish Consumption

Like the animals many people share their homes with, fish are individuals with their own unique personalities. Dive guides have been known to name friendly fish who follow divers around and enjoy being petted, just like dogs or cats. Yet billions of fish die every year in nets and on hooks—some are destined for human consumption, many are tortured just for “sport,” and others are nontarget victims who are maimed or killed simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 

Fish Can Communicate, Make Tools, Think, and Feel Pain
According to Culum Brown, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh, fish have cognitive abilities that equal and sometimes even surpass those of nonhuman primates; they can recognize individuals, use tools, and maintain complex social relationships.(1) In Fish and Fisheries, biologists wrote that fish are “steeped in social intelligence, pursuing Machiavellian strategies of manipulation, punishment and reconciliation, exhibiting stable cultural traditions, and co-operating to inspect predators and catch food.”(2) Many species of fish learn how to avoid predators by watching experienced fish, and according to Dr. Jens Krause of the University of Leeds, while some fish live in large hierarchical societies and others have smaller family units, all rely on these “social aggregations,” which “act as an information center where fish can exchange information with each other.”(3)
 

Fish communicate through a range of low-frequency sounds—from buzzes and clicks to yelps and sobs. These sounds, most of which are only audible to humans with the use of special instruments, communicate emotional states such as alarm or delight and help with courtship.(4) Atlantic croakers, for example, are so named because they croak when they are frightened.(5) Scientists have only recently discovered the alto croaking sounds made by a rare fish believed to be similar to the deep-sea blue grenadier, a tiny fish who lives beyond the continental shelves and is in danger of being fished to extinction. The fish’s call is believed to be necessary for mating, since there is no light where they live.(6)
 

While fish do not always express pain and suffering in ways that humans can easily recognize, scientific reports from around the world substantiate the fact that fish feel pain. Researchers from Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities studied the pain receptors in fish and found that they were strikingly similar to those of mammals and concluded that “fish do have the capacity for pain perception and suffering.”(7) A study conducted by the Roslin Institute examined rainbow trouts’ reactions to “noxious stimulation” and concluded that fish “experience suffering.”(8) Anglers often claim that fish do not feel pain, yet they go to great lengths to hide their hooks with bait and lures, knowing that even fish who have already experienced being hooked and released will continue to seek out food, and those who do get hooked will fight to stay alive.
Hooked fish struggle because of fear and physical pain. Once fish are brought out of their environment and into ours, they begin to suffocate. Their gills often collapse, and their swim bladders can rupture because of the sudden change in pressure. Some deepwater species, such as red snapper, are particularly affected by the dramatic changes in pressure that occur when they are pulled to the surface. One scientist says, “The physiological stress is enormous. Even if they swim off, a lot of those fish will be easy prey because they’re in a stunned condition when they’re released.”(9)
 

“Sport” Fishing
While the numbers are down from 10 years ago, more than 34 million people still went fishing in 2001, spending billions of dollars on their “hobby.”(10) According to a Florida State University study, sport fishers are responsible for killing almost 25 percent of overfished saltwater species.(11)
 

Many trout streams are so intensively fished that they are subject to catch-and-release regulations, requiring that all fish caught be released; the aquatic animals in these streams are likely to spend their short lives being repeatedly traumatized and injured. One fisheries expert adds that catch-and-release victims “could be vulnerable to predators, unable to swim away, or if nesting, not capable of fending off nest raiders. Some guarding males could in fact abandon the nest.”(12) Biologist Ralph Manns points out that fish such as bass are territorial, and once caught and released, these fish may be unable to find their homes and “be fated to wander aimlessly.”(13)
 

Fish aren’t the only victims of sport fishing. Water birds can get their feet caught in fishing lines or snag their wings in the invisible filaments. Unable to escape, they die from dehydration or starvation. One Rookery Bay, Florida, biologist who has seen egrets hanged by their necks and pelicans mortally wrapped up in fishing line laments that “[t]hese were all birds that were going to raise a family.”(14) Ospreys sometimes use discarded fishing line in their nests, and both parents and their young have been found entangled in it or impaled on fishing hooks.(15) A U.K. study found that 3,000 swans are victimized in angling-related incidents every year.(16)

One out of every five manatee rescues conducted in the 1980s and ’90s was related to fishing-line entanglement, and during a four-year span, at least 35 dolphins died from injuries that they sustained from being tangled in fishing line in the Southeast.(17) Along with boat strikes and discarded plastic, fishing line is one of the top three threats to sea animals, according to Virginia Marine Science Museum officials.(18)

Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture
The average U.S. consumer eats more than 15 pounds of fish every year. To meet this demand, commercial fishers reel in more than 9 billion pounds of fish and shellfish annually, and the aquaculture industry raises more than 800 million pounds per year.(19)
 

Commercial fishers use vast factory-style trawlers the size of football fields to catch fish. Miles-long nets stretch across the ocean, capturing everyone in their path. These boats haul up tens of thousands of fish in one load, keeping the most profitable and dumping the rest (such as rays, dolphins, and crabs) back into the ocean. Fish are scraped raw from rubbing against the rocks and debris caught in the nets with them. Then they bleed or suffocate to death on the decks of the ships, gasping for oxygen and suffering for as long as 24 hours.(20) Millions of tons of fish who are considered to be “undersized” are left to die on the decks or are tossed back into the ocean, where they usually die soon afterward.(21)
 

Hundreds of thousands of marine mammals die annually from commercial-fishing practices.(22) Some fishing boats use gill nets, which are believed to be responsible for the majority of incidents involving the accidental netting of marine mammals. These nets ensnare every animal they catch, and fish are further mutilated when they are extracted from the tangled nets. Longline fishing—in which 40 miles of monofilament fishing line dangles thousands of individually baited hooks to catch tuna and swordfish—is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 250,000 loggerhead and 60,000 leatherback turtles every year.(23)

Because of the industry’s indiscriminate practices, the population of the world’s large predatory fish, such as swordfish and marlin, has declined 90 percent since the advent of industrialized fishing.(24) Several species of sturgeon are endangered, but some commercial fishers still capture them for the caviar industry because, according to a fisheries management specialist, “they don’t care if they’re endangered. They want the money.”(25) In the Mediterranean, one big tuna “can be worth as much as the most expensive Mercedes-Benz,” according to a United Nations official, so—despite the dwindling number of bluefins—little can be done to prevent private fleets of commercial fishers from killing the few fish who remain.(26) Cod stocks are expected to be wiped out by 2020.(27)
 

Aquaculture accounts for close to one-third of the fish consumed in the United States, along with more than half the salmon, nearly all the catfish and trout, and about two-thirds of the shrimp.(28) Thousands of fish are raised in tubs or are confined to roped-off areas of the sea or ocean where each animal has just a bit more room than the space taken up by his or her body. Farmed fish consume 12 percent of all commercially caught fish, as well as a steady diet of pesticides, antibiotics, and herbicides.(29) Fish and crustaceans who could live for years in the ocean live only a few short months on fish farms.
 

Eating Fish Is Hazardous to Your Health
Like the flesh of other animals, fish contains excessive amounts of protein, fat, and cholesterol, and 6.5 million Americans are believed to be allergic to it.(30) Seafood also causes more food poisoning than any other type of food and is responsible for 37 percent of all food-borne illnesses in the U.S.(31)
 

The flesh of fish (including shellfish) can accumulate extremely high levels of carcinogenic chemical residues, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), thousands of times higher than that of the water in which they live.(32) The flesh of farmed salmon has seven times more PCBs than the flesh of wild-caught salmon.(33) Levels of mercury exceed government standards for safety in one-third of the nation’s lakes and in one-quarter of its riverways.(34) The New England Journal of Medicine asserts that fish “are the main if not the only source of methyl mercury,” which has been linked to cardiovascular disease, fetal brain damage, blindness, deafness, and problems with motor skills, language, and attention span.(35,36) Consumer Reports noted that canned tuna has been found to contain “levels of mercury high enough to pose a risk,” yet a Now With Bill Moyers report indicated that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only tests about a dozen cans of tuna for mercury every year and doesn’t expect the tuna industry to test its own product.(37,38) Because of mercury levels in the flesh of marine animals, the 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.(39)
 

Even the active ingredient in Prozac has been found in bluegill fish captured from a lake in Dallas, Texas; officials believe that runoff from a water-treatment plant is responsible.(40)
 

What You Can Do
Never buy or eat fish. Grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, and seeds provide all the essential amino acids that you need for your health. Vegetarian products like Worthington’s Tuno (available in health-food stores) and mock lobster, shrimp, and crab (available online) have all the taste of the “real thing,” but none of the cruelty or contaminants. Omega-3 fatty acids, which help prevent heart disease, can be found in flaxseed, canola oil, nuts, and avocados.(41)
 

Before you support a “wildlife” or “conservation” group, ask about its position on fishing. Groups such as the National Wildlife Federation, the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, the Izaak Walton League, the Wilderness Society, the World Wildlife Fund, and many others either support or do not oppose sport fishing.

To combat fishing in your area, post “no fishing” signs on your land if you have a pond or lake, join or form an anti-fishing organization, and protest fishing tournaments. Encourage your legislators to enact or enforce wildlife-protection laws. In the U.K., the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has the authority to check and prosecute fish farms and sport fishers for cruelty to fish.(42) Please visit FishingHurts.com for more information.
 

References

1) Culum Brown, “Not Just a Pretty Face,” New Scientist, 12 Jun. 2004.
2) “Scientists Highlight Fish ‘Intelligence,’” BBC News, 31 Aug. 2003.
3) National Public Radio, “Interview: Jens Krause Discusses Scientific Discoveries About the Intelligence of Fish,” All Things Considered, 5 Sep. 2003.
4) Stephen Budiansky, “What Animals Say to Each Other,” U.S. News & World Report, 5 Jun. 1995.
5) Martin A. Connaughton et al., “Characterization of Sounds and Their Use in Two Sciaenid Species: Weakfish and Atlantic Croaker,” An International Workshop on the Application of Passive Acoustics in Fisheries, 8-10 Apr. 2002.
6) Mark Peplow, “Deep-Sea Fish Croaks for Love,” Nature News Service, 28 Apr. 2004.
7) Jonatha Leake, “Anglers to Face RSPCA Checks,” The Sunday Times, 14 Mar. 2004.
8) John Mason, “Science Puts Finger on Pain Felt by Fish,” Financial Times, 29 Aug. 2003.
9) “Sport Anglers Said to Catch More Fish Than Thought,” Associated Press, 27 Aug. 2004.
10) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation,” (Washington: GPO): 8-9.
11) “Sport Anglers Said to Catch More Fish Than Thought,” Associated Press, 27 Aug. 2004.
12) Dave Golowenski, “Study Shows Effects of Catch-and-Release. Research Raises Questions About Harm to Fish During Long Struggle,” The Columbus Dispatch, 4 Jul. 2004.
13) Bob Kornegay, “Catch and Release Is Best Utilized Close to Catch,” Eagle, 31 Aug. 2001.
14) Billy Bruce, “Fishing Line Left Behind by Anglers Is Killing Seabirds,” Naples Daily News, 2 Jun. 2004.
15) Sierra Club and Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, “Angler Alert: Fishing Line Can Kill,” Watershed Radio, 12 Mar. 2003.
16) “Fishing Around to Combat Swan Suffering,” NFU Countryside, 18 Mar. 2002.
17) Bruce.
18) Paul Clancy, “A Second Chance. Rare Turtle Saved, but Other Sea Creatures Haven’t Been so Lucky,” The Virginian-Pilot, 18 Jul. 1996.
19) National Marine Fisheries Service, “Fisheries of the United States, 2002,” U.S. Department of Commerce, Sep. 2003.
20) Dawn Carr, personal experience on fishing trawler, Summer 2003.
21) Stephen C. Votler et al., “Changes in Fisheries Discard Rates and Seabird Communities,” Nature, 19 Feb. 2004.
22) Andrew J. Read and Phebe Drinker, “By-Catches of Marine Mammals in U.S. Fisheries and a First Attempt to Estimate the Magnitude of Global Marine Mammal By-Catch,” Jun. 2003.
23) “Duke Study Gives First Worldwide Measure of Sea Turtle Casualties by Longline Fishing,” EurekaAlert, 8 Mar. 2004.
24) Ransom A. Myers and Boris Worm, “Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities,” Nature, 15 May 2003.
25) National Public Radio, “Profile: As Many American Fishermen Find Big Money in Caviar, Conservation Groups Seek Stricter Regulation of Endangered Species,” All Things Considered, 6 Oct. 2003.
26) “Huge Tuna Demand Threatens Supply,” Associated Press, 20 Jul. 2004.
27) “Wildlife Fund Sees Threat to Cod Stocks,” Associated Press, 13 May 2004.
28) Melinda Fulmer, “A Bumper Crop,” Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2002.
29) Kendall Powell, “Eat Your Veg,” Nature, 27 Nov. 2003.
30) Mount Sinai Press Office, “Study Reports Seafood Allergies Often Begin Later in Life,” EurekaAlert, 8 Jul. 2004.
31) J.H. Diaz, “Is Fish Consumption Safe?” Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society, 156(2004): 44-9.
32) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “ToxFAQs for Polychlorinated Biphenlys (PCBs),” Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Feb. 2001.
33) Marian Burros, “Where Salmon Is Sold, Playing the Wild Card,” The New York Times, 14 Jun. 2004.
34) Elizabeth Weise and Traci Watson, “Mercury in Many Lakes, Rivers,” USA Today, 4 Aug. 2004.
35) Thomas Clarkson et al., “The Toxicology of Mercury—Current Exposures and Clinical Manifestations,” The New England Journal of Medicine, 349(2003): 1731-7.
36) P. Elizabeth Anderson, “Benefits of Eating Fish Remain, but Health Officials Warn Against High Levels of Mercury,” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, 28 Oct. 2001.
37) Bebe Emerman, “Consumer Warning About Canned Tuna,” CBS KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, 5 Jun. 2001.
38) “Now With Bill Moyers Reports FDA Tests Only a Dozen Cans of Tuna a Year for Mercury,” PR Newswire, 16 Jul. 2003.
39) Elizabeth Weise, “New Report Shows That Pregnant Women Are Eating Too Much Fish,” USA Today, 9 Apr. 2004.
40) Jon Herskovitz, “Fish on Prozac Pose a Problem,” Reuters, 23 Oct. 2003.
41) Sally Squires, “Heart-Healthy Omega-3 May Be Good for Your Brain,” Washington Post Service, 10 Sep. 2003.
42) Leake.