Fishing Hurts
A Fishes Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Animal Justice Project / Fishing Hurts
May 2019

Fish are the forgotten victims. Please don’t turn away.

Animal Justice Project has initiated a new campaign - FISHING HURTS

Why fish?

Fish are intelligent beings with distinct, inquisitive and playful personalities.

They enjoy physical contact with each other, other ocean inhabitants, and even divers!

Fish live in large groups called ‘schools’, exhibiting complex social bonds. Working together these animals communicate, plan and hunt, sometimes working with individuals of other species – something rarely seen even in mammals. Some fish, such as salmon, have amazing memories and can remember their exact place of birth. Some mate for life. The Mahi-mahi have such a connection with each other, if one of a pair is caught, the partner will stay around, waiting in hope of their return.

Their slaughter

It’s long been recognised that fish are sentient beings who feel pain, stress, fear and exhibit cautious behaviour much like birds and land-based mammals.

Yet their cruel treatment would be considered illegal if they were any other animal.

Modern-day fishing vessels are literally floating slaughterhouses with the capacity to catch, kill and process millions of fish in a single excursion. The moment fish are dragged out of the water, they gasp and struggle for life, experiencing decompression, asphyxiation and crushing under the weight of the other fish. They may be bludgeoned to death, have a spike forced through their brain, have their gill archery severed, be decapitated or gutted alive!

Aquaculture: factory farms

Mass, industrial fish farms are on the increase to fulfil the ever-growing demand.

Captive in cramped pens, fish live in their own waste. These congested toxic cesspools are the perfect breeding ground for pathogens, killing up to 40 per cent of the farmed fish.

Sea, we can’t live without it

The ocean’s ecosystem is vital for life on earth.

It produces 80 per cent of the oxygen we breathe while absorbing 50 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions yet it is being decimated by the fishing industry. 90 per cent of top-level predators have already been fished to extinction, with scientists predicting empty oceans by 2048.

2.7 trillion lives lost

A trillion is a million times a million, a number that is difficult to imagine for most. However this is the number of animals dragged from the oceans each year by the fishing industry.

40 per cent of this catch, including an estimated 650 million whales, dolphins, sharks, marine turtles and sea birds, is classified as ‘bycatch’ and discarded back into the ocean, often dead. Plastic waste cannot be ignored either and is also a huge threat to the ocean’s existence.

Around 46 per cent of plastic in the oceans consist of discarded fishing nets which continue to entrap and kill sea animals.

Order your Animal Justice Project ‘Fishing Hurts’ door-droppers in time for World Oceans Day 2019 Saturday 8th June and beyond!

Our ‘Fishing Hurts’ leaflet explains how amazing fish are, about their killing, the environment fishing catastrophe, and the answer – to go vegan! They come in packs of 100 and perfect for handing out or door dropping in your local area. Don’t delay, order today!

What you can do

• STOP eating fish. Go vegan instead!
• START a Fish Save or Climate Save Group
• DONATE to  Fishing Hurts

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