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Frequently Asked Questions
Isn’t eating fish good for your health?
Fish absorb all the contamination from the water they live
in, so fish flesh is laced with toxins such as mercury, lead,
arsenic, PCBs, pesticides, and even industrial strength fire-retardant.
Just two servings of fish per week can elevate your blood
mercury levels by 700 percent, and study after study has linked
fish consumption to fatigue, memory loss, and decreased mental
function. Click here for
the facts about fish flesh and your health.
So what does the fish industry have to say for itself? It
ignores the fact that fish flesh is toxic (the breast milk
of some Inuit tribes is so concentrated with poisons from
their fish diet that it meets the Environmental Protection
Agency’s standards for toxic waste) and points to small
amounts of omega-3 fatty acids in fish. But you can get plenty
of omega-3 fatty acids in nuts and leafy green vegetables
… without losing your mind.
What’s wrong with catch-and-release fishing?
Have you ever seen an injured dog who has been hit by a car
or a cat who’s been seriously hurt in a fight? Unless
they are treated by a veterinarian, these animals are likely
to die from their injuries. Fish are no different: A hook
through the mouth causes a serious and extremely painful injury
that is often fatal without treatment. But anglers just toss
injured fish back into the water—often without realizing
what they’ve done.
In addition to the wounds that are caused by the hook, fish
released after being caught can suffer from loss of their
protective scale coating, dangerous build-up of lactic acid
in their muscles, oxygen depletion, and damage to their delicate
fins and mouths. Upon being returned to the water, these fish
are easy targets for predators and other fishers. Researchers
at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation found
that as many as 43 percent of fish released after being caught
died within six days. Catching fish is cruel and unnecessary,
whether they are killed on the spot or thrown back into the
water, injured and exhausted.
Didn’t Jesus eat fish?
It’s an interesting question, but Biblical scholars
agree that the appropriate question for Christians is, “What
should we be eating?” The Bible clearly says
that our bodies are temples and that we should take care of
them. Yet it’s a fact that all fish flesh today is contaminated
with heavy metals and other toxins.
In fact, fish flesh is just about the
most polluted thing that humans put into their bodies.
On that basis alone, Christians should not be eating it.
Today’s fishing practices are also horribly
cruel to God’s creatures. God cares for all His
creatures, and the Bible counsels compassion for all beings.
We all understand that it is immoral and contrary to Christian
mercy to torture dogs and cats. It is equally unchristian
to torture and kill (or pay others to torture and kill) fish
and other animals. Although they may not be able to scream
out in pain, fish have the same capacity for suffering and
the same right to compassion as all living beings.
For more frequently asked questions about vegetarianism, click
here.
For more frequently asked questions about other issues, click
here.
Ask Carla,
PETA’s kindness consultant.
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