The Vegan View

Vegans and Better Food Choices

I know how cows, chickens, pigs, etc., are treated and I do not support the meat or dairy industry at all, but what about wild caught fish? Especially shellfish like oysters, muscles and scallops? And even shrimp? I have heard that crustaceans are closely related to cockroaches and most of us have little problem with killing them. I'm just not sure yet what to believe when it comes to seafood. I used to go fishing as a child and have fond memories of eating the days catch. I am truely torn.

VegFamily readers reply:

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Shirley:

I understand how you feel. In the very early years when I first stopped eating animals, I did continue to include sea animals in my diet. Then someone said that vegetarians do not eat any animal that swims, crawls, walks or flies. So I quit. I thought it would be difficult but it wasn't. I have never regretted it. When you go to a fish market, the horrible smell is a message that it is not food. Here is a link to an interesting article, Shrimp's Dirty Secrets: Why America's Favorite Seafood Is a Health and Environmental Nightmare: http://www.vegsource.com/news/2010/01/shrimp-health-and-environmental-nightmare.html

Ken:
I do not eat a vegan diet, but I've grown up in a church with a strong health message. Manny of the people I've grown up with are vegetarians or vegans. Those of us who do eat meat however stay away from selfish, observing the principles for eating meet set fourth in Leviticus chapter 11.

" 9 " 'Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. 10 But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales?whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water?you are to detest. 11 And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses. 12 Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you."

Shell fish and crustaceans are always scavengers, frequently feeding on dead carcasses and fecal matter that fall to the sea floor. There are also nanny known toxins found in various shell fish, many people develop allergic reactions to shell fish latter in life, I believe these toxin are why.

As for Biblical principle, the original human diet was a vegan one. I believe when balanced correctly the vegan diet is the most healthy.

Cate:
Many people become vegan for ethical rather than health reasons. These good people are thinking more about animal welfare and the environment than their own well-being.

Jeanette:
I think it depends on the reasons why you are vegetarian or vegan. For most people it begins with the discovery of how factory farmed animals are treated and evolves from there. Ultimately, I think everyone should do what feels morally best for them. At least wild animals live normal lives up until the moment they are caught and killed for food. Personally, my way of life is that I don't kill anything unless it is an immediate threat to me. So I wouldn't kill even seafood just to please my palate. The flip side of the coin is, how cognizant are shellfish? Can they feel pain? Certainly not in the same way as a mammal, but who knows. When I used to keep fish, before I started thinking about how fish get to be in our aquarium and gave up the hobby, I had a fantail goldfish that grew to be quite large and lived several years, and he really did have personality and interacted with me. I guess the bottom line is to live your life as cruelty free as possible to the best of your abilities. But if you do eat seafood, please don't call yourself vegetarian, let alone vegan. People who say they are vegetarian but eat animals are my biggest pet peeve, and they make life difficult for strict vegetarians or vegans, who can't figure out why people assume they still eat fish and poultry.

vegansympathizer, PhD:
answer:
As sea creatures are not considered vegan fare as a general rule, I'm guessing that you are a person who eats a mainly vegetarian diet that is curious as to whether crustaceans, fish and fish products are ethically sound food choices. This is a question best answered by your own research and by listening to what your heart tells you.

Chris:
A very good basic place for you to start would be the section on fish at 2:38-5:05 of the video "Glass Walls": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Kjsd7-iIY

I won't repeat the info found there, I'll just let you watch it yourself. I'll add that fish who are brought up from the ocean depths through the use of dragnets and others never have the time to decompress properly, and so not only experience the bends just like divers can, but also experience explosion of their air bladders or other internal organs as well as gill collapse and suffocation(which would equivilate a collapsed lung in a human), and eyeballs popping out of their skulls from the force of the sudden pressure change. Sorry to put it bluntly, but this is barbarism and atrocity. Scientists have proven that fish experience pain in exactly the same way as humans and animals do, that they have extraordinarily sensitive and complex nervous systems, and that caught fish - whether netted or hooked - display extreme pain behaviors.An absolutely excellent article on the issue of fish and vegetarianism is found here: http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/fish.html

Aside from the cruelty, fish and crustaceans have extremely high levels of mercury and toxins. Mercury poisoning from seafood has caused outbreaks of horrific birth defects; some of the most well known cases were in Japan. Crustaceans themselves are the scavengers - vultures if you will - of the sea, cleaning up the ocean floor of decaying life. The concentration of toxins found in their bodies alone should make anyone not want to consume them.

Finally, the fishing industry is destroying the ocean and the environment at an alarming rate. Just google "fishing destroy ocean" and you will find multitudes of websites outlining how the various fishing methods are emptying the ocean of life, threatening endangered species, destroying coral reefs and entire ecosystems, etc. Fishing is a multibillion dollar industry, and it the current rate the ocean will be fished out to the point that the industry will collapse with disastrous consequences within the next few decades.

Also interesting to note is that for farmed fish to reach weight, they are fed wild caught fish. Each farmed fish must consume 3 wild caught fish in its lifspan to reach weight. The ocean is being raped to feed farmed fish and make them grow excessively through cannibalism. For every farmed fish someone eats, they have actually destroyed 3 wild ocean fish. It's a useless waste, and absolutely incomprehensible method of unsustainable farming.

Aris:
As vegans we consciously have the good intention to respect the life of every being no matter how big or small it is no matter where it lives in the sea or on the earth.

Priscilla:
I choose not to eat seafood for ethical and environmental reasons. Ethics-wise, I agree that factory farming of livestock is much worse than wild-caught fisheries. But you have to look at what these fisheries are doing to the environment. Take shrimp, for instance. Harvest of shrimp from the water produces large amounts of bycatch. That's other forms of life that are brought up in the net with the shrimp and simply thrown back in the water. The survival rates for bycatch are not good. So to get that one little shrimp, you could also be killing 5 other fish or snails or crabs. (and that's a low estimate.) Also, most fisheries these days are on the brink of collapse. I am not exaggerating here. That is just the state of our oceans and estuaries these days. I do not think it is a good idea to support industries that are driving fish species to the edge of existence. Aquaculture is an alternative to wild-caught fisheries. But most aquaculture operations are very detrimental to the environment. Shrimp farms are often established on destroyed mangrove swamps. Fish hatcheries often use copious amounts of antibiotics and keep their fish in very tight spaces (beginning to sound like a factory farm, right?). These are just a few examples of what I think is wrong with eating seafood. All that said, if you can find a sustainably harvested fish that was wild caught, I would say go for it. But good luck finding that fish and knowing for sure how it was caught unless you personally know the fisherman.

Stacey:
That is wonderful that you have fond memories from childhood, and you are asking a valid question on eating seafood. I went vegan several years ago, and it was hard for me to give up fish because it does taste good. However, I have been volunteering at the Vancouver Aquarium for the past three years, and the main mission of the aquarium is education. We are trying to educate the public on the situation that the fish population is in. The number of fish in our oceans have been decreasing at an alarming rate. If our world keeps fishing the way it is, in the future there will be no fish. Can you imagine that? Everyone needs to make their own decision for health. So, it is up to you if you want to eat fish. However, please consider eating a sustainable option. The Monteray Bay Aquarium has some great information on sustainable seafood. They have these cards you can print out, and put in your pocket, and you can refer to them at the grocery store, or when you eat out. Plus, they have a sushi card too, with the Japanese translations. It is unreasonable to expect people to stop eating seafood entirely, so the sustainable option is the next best thing.

Jeff:
Vegans who do not eat animals for ethical reasons would not make distinctions among any of the types of animals you mentioned. To these individuals, all animals are equal and deserve equal protection from being harmed or killed. Even cockroaches.

From an environmental standpoint, being a fish consumer contributes to the global problem of overfishing. The consequences of these depletions upset the balance of ecosystems and threaten the planet. I think you don't have to look far to find literature on this?try the Worldwatch Institute. We have about 50 years left of global fish supply at the rate we are currently consuming them.

In terms of health, fish still have high levels of mercury and shellfish have especially high levels of cholesterol compared with other animals. So those are just of few of the reasons vegans choose not eat fish and shellfish.

That said, you really should eat whatever makes you comfortable and happy and not feel torn about your personal decisions. If you decide to eat fish and shellfish after doing your own research, and you want to continue to have fond memories of fishing, you shouldn't feel guilty.

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