Throughout history, researchers have found many wacky ways of exploiting animals for the “benefit of science” from dropping toxic chemicals onto the shaved skin of rabbits for cosmetics testing to sending chimpanzees and dogs to outer space. Many examples of animal manipulation might seem rather unnecessary and quite frankly, ridiculous. ... Read More
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While the concept of factory farming for animals like chickens, cows and pigs is a basically understood by the majority of meat-eaters, there is another group of animals who are subjected to similarly horrendous conditions that most people do not know about: fish. Just like with other conventional farm animals, ... Read More
Gillnetting is a common fishing method used by commercial and artisanal fishermen of all the oceans and in some freshwater and estuary areas. “Gill nets are vertical panels of netting normally set in a straight line. Fish may be caught by gill nets in 3 ways: wedged – held by ... Read More
Science has repeatedly shown us what common sense already tells us: Fish feel pain and can suffer. The evidence is so clear that world leaders are taking notice. The Standing Committee of the European Convention for the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes explains, "The skin of the fish ... Read More
Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark’s fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if ... Read More
Shark finning refers to the removal and retention of shark fins while the remainder of the living shark is discarded in the ocean. Sharks returned to the ocean without their fins are often still alive; unable to move effectively, they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die of ... Read More
Lobsters belong to the Crustacea class of inverterbrate animals. Crustacea shed their hard skeletons at intervals in order to grow (known as moulting). Lobsters have a 'head' (carapace) containing the heart, digestive and sex organs — and a 'tail' (abdomen) containing the intestine and anus. The eye, mouth parts and ... Read More
Fish farming or pisciculture is the principal form of aquaculture, while other methods may fall under mariculture. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks or enclosures, usually for food. A facility that releases juvenile fish into the wild for recreational fishing or to supplement a species' natural numbers is ... Read More
More than 100 countries around the world rely on healthy coral reefs for income, food, storm protection, and more. Protection of coral reefs has become an important issue for policy makers and governments, especially ministries of tourism, environment, and fisheries.
Declawing of crabs is the process whereby one or both claws of a live crab (including king crabs) are manually pulled off and the animal is then returned to the water. It occurs in several fisheries worldwide, such as in the Florida stone crab (Menippe mercenaria) fishery, the northeast Atlantic ... Read More
Victoria Braithwaite, Professor of Fisheries and Biology at Penn State University, "explores the question of fish pain and fish suffering, explaining what science can now tell us about fish behavior, and examining the related ethical questions about how we should treat these animals...Though far from anti-fishing, she concludes that scientific ... Read More
"In The Empty Ocean, acclaimed author and artist Richard Ellis tells the story of our continued plunder of life in the sea and weighs the chances for its recovery. Through fascinating portraits of a wide array of creatures, he introduces us to the many forms of sea life that humans ... Read More
The amount of fish in the oceans has halved since 1970, in a plunge to the "brink of collapse" caused by over-fishing and other threats, the WWF conservation group said on Wednesday. Populations of some commercial fish stocks, such as a group including tuna, mackerel and bonito, had fallen by ... Read More
Many people, including some who call themselves vegetarians, think fish are less capable of suffering than mammals and birds. These would-be vegetarians may avoid eating mammals and birds while continuing to eat fish, sometimes arguing that the problems associated with the production and consumption of other animal products don’t apply ... Read More
Fight Walmart Fish Cruelty is an oranization fighting the cruelty towards fish in Walmart stores nationwide. We need Walmart to stop selling fish, and we need you! We can't stop it alone, so we need you guys to help us. Call Walmart, go to your Walmart, and just keep pressing ... Read More
It is now widely accepted that fish feel pain. In fact, fish process pain in much the same way as mammals. The fish in the video exhibit pronounced aversive responses to their handling, such as violently flopping and attempting to move away, suggesting that they indeed feel pain and are ... Read More
The aquarium trade serves a dark hobby, confining coral reef wildlife and destroying reefs around the world. Stripping reefs for an amusement industry is theoretically no different than capturing cetaceans for commercial shows. 98% of aquarium fish are wild caught. Many people may not reflect on the colorful fish in ... Read More
In the United States, approximately 1.3 billion fish are raised in off-shore and land-based aquaculture systems each year for food, making them the second-most commonly farmed animal domestically, following broiler chickens. The majority of farmed fish are subject to overcrowded and restrictive conditions, which, if unchecked, can quickly deteriorate water ... Read More
The traditional method for killing farmed fish is to allow them to asphyxiate in air or on ice, which is slow and distressing...
Fish: the forgotten victims on our plate