Why should we stop fishing and fish farming?

Because fishes and other sentient aquatic animals are not recognized as individuals.
Because they are not protected in any way.
Because a huge majority of animals farmed and captured are aquatic animals killed for human consumption or to feed other farmed animals.
Because their fate is unknown to the public and often ignored by animal rights campaigns.

The World Day for the End of Fishing and Fish Farming asks for the abolition of the exploitation of fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods.

The thousands of billions victims of fishing and animal aquaculture

Thousands of billions of fishes, cephalopods and crustaceans are killed every year.

A large number of these animals go through agony in the open air, are bled to death and eviscerated while still conscious or are thrown back at sea using pitchforks. Others die bursting open from severe decompression as fishing nets are hoisted back from marine depths. As for the prisoners of fish farms, they live in horrible conditions, in filthy, crowded spaces filled with parasites.

The concealed lives of aquatic animals

Because fishes, crustaceans and cephalopods do not live on land, because they are not mammals like us and because they do not express emotions through facial gestures or audible cries, they are subjected to an acute form of speciesism. Since they do not look like us, we don’t identify with them or their plight, we underestimate their capacity to experience suffering and pleasure, as well as their mental and social capacities. We don’t think about them, nor about how they are captured and farmed when their dead bodies are displayed in fish markets or used as ingredients in industrial goods of various kinds. This concealment makes a day devoted to refusing their exploitation more than necessary.

The end of fishing and fish farming is realistic

Eating aquatic animals, or any animal product for that matter, is not necessary to live a healthy life. However, one can recognize that there are people and communities whose traditions or livelihoods depend on fishing practices. Helping people whose income depends on fishing, through retraining aids and conversion subsidies, is a priority in achieving the aim of ending the massacre of aquatic animals. Hence, we encourage forms of animal advocacy that avoid singling out the smaller-scale practices of people who may already suffer from oppression and otherization, such as Indigenous people, and instead focus on our collective responsibility in putting an end to the most important sources of suffering, such as shrimp farms and commercial fishing boats.

A matter of justice

All societies accept that we should not inflict unnecessary suffering and death to animals. Given the immense harms we cause fish and other aquatic animals, and given the massive number of individuals affected, we should put an end to their exploitation and stop killing them for their flesh. The exploitation and killing of other animals for human consumption cannot be justified.

The demand to end fishing and fish farming is a matter of justice: like all sentient beings, fishes and other aquatic animals should be recognized fundamental rights: the right to life, freedom and physical integrity.