Fish?

[NegativeChappy]

Hi, I am pretty new to veganism! I initially never ate meat, eggs, processed sugar, or any dairy products, but i did eat fish, only fish, and no other seafood. Coming from an Asian background, seafood is a huge part of what we usually eat( my family anyways), So i was wondering why it is so bad to eat them, besides the mercury.

[Rochellita]

hi! VIVA has a good amount of practical information on why vegans and vegetarians don't eat fish http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/fish/index.html I personally don't eat it for all of these reasons, but mainly for ethical reasons. It is now widely believed that fish are sentient.

[baldy]

Welcome NegativeChappy

When I first started going veggie the last thing I stopped was fish. Mainly after reading about how unsustainable and wasteful fishing is. Also realising, that their is no good reason to eat it.

[flatbushvegan]

Also, if you are concerned about getting your DHA (widely viewed as only found in "fish oil"), look into algae ("algal") DHA supplements. They are vegan, made from algae grown in lab. Apparently the reason some fish have lots of DHA is from eating algae, or so I recall reading.

I've seen it available at health food stores, Walgreens, and lots of places online.

P.S.
Fish was the hardest for me to give up--in part because I ate it almost everyday back when I was struggling with vegetarianism, and also because I didn't know about algae DHA, which is a fairly new product.

[mabli]

oddly one of the first things i stopped eating was fish, seemed a horrible way do die so didnt want to be a part of it

[xrodolfox]

I'm Chilean, and fish was the hardest (and last thing) for me to give up.

But frankly, fish is just not needed to thrive. Why kill an animal when there is no need? There just isn't a need.

[Alistar]

Fish was always a bit of a luxury for us, so we only ever ate it on occasion. Except for "Fish and Chips" which is a bit of a NZ staple, where the fish is deep fried in batter. I did really like it though. But had no problems giving it up, considering we didn't really eat too much of it.

But the fish stocks are getting so low, from both recreational and commercial overfishing these days, that lots of whales etc are starving to death in the oceans and beaching themselves because of it.

Like others have said its just not needed in ones diet, and us humans have been taking far too much for too long. "Why add to the problem?" is pretty much my position.

[JP]

i love fish!

Such fascinating creatures - beautiful in their own unique ways, having evolved in remarcable ways to their situations and niches.

Pisses me off how they dont even count the amount of fish animals killed for food industry, its just in tons.

[beforewisdom]

Nobody has mentioned how scientists have predicted that the oceans will be dead in under 40 years at the rate people are fishing and polluting.

[BlueRose]

I personally find it strange to live in a culture where fish are kept as pets, but they're also still okay to eat.

Whut?

[Big Good Wolf]

Pisses me off how they dont even count the amount of fish animals killed for food industry, its just in tons.

And the way they are described as "fish stocks" as if they are just a product and the worst thing about "over" fishing is that there won't be any left for people to eat.

[Hiking Fox]

Hi, I am pretty new to veganism! I initially never ate meat, eggs, processed sugar, or any dairy products,

There's nothing non-vegan about sugar, despite some out-of-date info that persists, though of course eating too much of it is unhealthy.

So i was wondering why it is so bad to eat them, besides the mercury.

The way they die is particularly horrible. There's no "humane" stunning with fish; they are dumped by the thousand onto the deck of a ship or reeled in on a line and left to suffocate and bleed to death. It can take up to an hour for some of the larger species to die. If I were being forced at gunpoint to eat an animal, it wouldn't be a fish!

If you want to know more about the terrible waste of life the fishing industry causes, the first half an hour of this documentary is amazing: http://endoftheline.com/

...unfortunately the conclusions they reach at the end are really weak, as they make no mention at all of simply not eating fish. The footage is gripping, though.

[beforewisdom]

I personally find it strange to live in a culture where fish are kept as pets, but they're also still okay to eat.

Whut?

Rabbit lovers say the same thing.

The fish that are kept as pets are not the same types of fish that people eat. People really don't relate to pet fish like they do cats or dogs. Fish tanks are little more than 3-D screen savers.

People who eat rabbits don't usually keep them as pets.

[Melina]

JP wrote:
Pisses me off how they dont even count the amount of fish animals killed for food industry, its just in tons.

And the way they are described as "fish stocks" as if they are just a product and the worst thing about "over" fishing is that there won't be any left for people to eat.

Yup.

[Herbsman]

Think biodiversity.