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Fish Farms: Underwater Factories
Fish Slaughter: Unregulated Suffering
In the United States, there are no regulations to ensure the
humane treatment of fish, despite the fact that billions of
farmed fish are slaughtered every year. Though they may seem
alien to us, fish are unique and intelligent
individuals who feel pain, just as all animals do.
As many as 40 percent of farmed fish die before the farmer
is ready to slaughter them. Fish who survive are starved before
they are sent to slaughter in order to reduce waste contamination
of the water during transport. Salmon, for example, are starved
for 10 full days.
Fish slaughter plants in the U.S. make no effort to stun the
fish, who are fully conscious when they start down the slaughter
line. Their gills are cut, and they are left to bleed to death,
convulsing in pain. Large fish, such as salmon, are sometimes
bashed on the head with a wooden bat called a “priest,”
and many are seriously injured but still alive and suffering
when they are cut open. Smaller fish, like trout, are often
killed by simply draining water away and leaving them to slowly
suffocate or by packing them in ice while they are still fully
conscious. Because fish are cold-blooded, allowing them to
suffocate on ice prolongs their suffering, leaving them to
experience excruciating pain for as long as 15 minutes before
they die.
The crude methods used to kill fish for human consumption
are truly ghastly. Cutting their gills, beating them with
bats, suffocating them, or freezing them—all these slaughter
practices are completely legal and unregulated. If the victims
were dogs, cats, cows, or pigs instead of fish, fish farmers
could be charged with felony cruelty to animals. The best
way to put an end to cruelty against fish is to stop eating
them.
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The methods used to
slaughter fish in the United States are both grotesque
and inhumane. Fish farmers may bash large fish with
a bat or slit their gills, and smaller fish are often
packed in ice and left to suffocate or freeze to death. |
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Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Salmon
Top 10 Reasons Not to Eat Tuna
Fish Flakes Trading Cards
"Take a Closer Look at Fish " Leaflet
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