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Commercial
Fishing
Factory trawlers, massive ships the size of football fields,
are used by commercial fishers to track fish. Nets that stretch
miles across the ocean swallow up anything or anyone that gets
in its path, including fish, dolphins, and turtles. When pulled
up from deep water, fish undergo excruciatingly painful decompression.
Often, the intense internal pressure ruptures the swimbladder,
pops out the eyes, and pushes the esophagus and stomach out
through the mouth. Commercial fishers use plastic, weighted
gillnets which hang like curtains in the ocean. Fish are unable
to see the netting and swim into it. When they try to back out
their gills or fins are caught in the netting. Because gillnets
are left unmonitored, trapped fish can suffer for days. Many
of these fish suffocate, others slowly bleed to death from wounds
caused by the netting. Another common method of commercial fishing
is long-lining, in which as much as 75 miles of line with thousands
of baited hooks is dragged behind the boat. Once hooked, some
animals drown or bleed to death in the water, and many others
struggle for hours until the boat reels them in. In addition
to killing millions of fish, long-lining is a major cause of
death for the endangered sea turtle.
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Factory-Raised
Fish
Aquaculture, fish farming in a controlled environment, is a
multi-million dollar industry. In order to meet the high public
demand for seafood, large numbers of fish are raised in intensive
confinement. Nearly half of the salmon, mollusks, and freshwater
fish consumed today spend their lives in captivity. Fish raised
on aquafarms are confined in tanks inside steel buildings, where
drugs, hormones, and genetic engineering are used to accelerate
growth and to control reproductive behaviors. Overcrowding causes
injuries and puts abnormal stress on the animals, leading to
outbreaks of disease. Aquaculture prevents fish from engaging
in natural and instinctual behaviors. At slaughter, some fish
have their gill arches cut without being stunned and are left
to bleed to death. Others are slowly suffocated to death by
draining water away from them.
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Health
Risks
Eating fish is not only unnecessary, it is dangerous to our
health. Fish flesh contains excessive amounts of protein, fat,
and cholesterol. In addition, fish flesh can accumulate extremely
high levels of mercury, pesticides and other toxins, which can
cause kidney damage, fetal damage, impaired mental development,
and cancer to those who eat it. Many people continue to consume
fish for the Omega 3 oils, however these oils can be easily
and safely obtained from flax seed oil and other non-animal
sources. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest,
seafood is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the United
States.
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