Fish Can't Feed the World
According to a national Vegetarian Resource Group Poll conducted by
Harris Interactive, nearly fifteen percent of Americans say they never eat
fish or seafood.
Fish cannot feed the world! The pacific sardine lives along the coasts of
North America from Alaska to southern California. Sardines, once a major
part of the California fishing industry, are now considered to be
"commercially extinct." Another species classified as "commercially extinct"
is the New England haddock. Ecologists have also been concerned about the
significant reduction in finfish, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, Lake Erie
cisco, and blackfins that inhabit Lakes Huron and Michigan.
Over 200,000 porpoises are killed every year by fishermen seeking tuna in
the Pacific. Sea turtles are similarly killed in Caribbean shrimp
operations.
Half of all fresh water worldwide is used for thirsty livestock. Producing
eight ounces of beef requires an unimaginable 25,000 liters of water, or the
water necessary for one pound of steak equals the water consumption of the
average household for a year.
Factory farm pollution is the primary source of damage to coastal waters in
North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Scientists report that over
sixty percent of the coastal waters in the United States are moderately to
severely degraded from factory farm nutrient pollution. This pollution
creates oxygen-depleted dead zones, which are huge areas of ocean devoid of
aquatic life.
The World Conservation Union lists over one thousand different fish species
that are threatened or endangered. According to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimate, over sixty percent of the world's
fish species are either fully exploited or depleted. Commercial fish
populations of cod, hake, haddock, and flounder have fallen by as much as 95
percent in the north Atlantic.
It makes sense to eat lower on the food chain!
Nor can fish provide any help in alleviating global hunger. There are signs
that the fishing industry (which is quite energy-intensive) has already
overfished the oceans in several areas. And fish could never play a major
role in the worlds diet anyway: the entire global fish catch of the world,
if divided among all the world's inhabitants would amount to only a few
ounces of fish per person per week.
The American Dietetic Association reports that throughout history, the human
race has lived on "vegetarian or near vegetarian diets," and meat has
traditionally been a luxury. Studies show the healthiest human populations
on the globe (the Hunzas of Pakistan, the Vilacambians of Ecuador, the
Abhikasians of the former USSR) live almost entirely on plant foods--useful
data, given our skyrocketing healthcare costs. Nathan Pritikin, author of
The Pritikin Plan, recommended not more than three ounces of animal protein
per day; three ounces per week for his patients who had already suffered a
heart attack.
In A Vegetarian Sourcebook, author Keith Akers observes:
"Much has been made over the virtues of chicken and fish in comparison to
red meats such as beef and pork. It has been said that eating chicken and
fish will aid in the prevention of heart disease, because these meats are
relatively lower in fat and contain more unsaturated than saturated fat,
thus helping to lower cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, these claims are
not supported by the evidence. Studies in which human volunteers switched
from diets including beef and eggs, to one including fish and chicken showed
that serum cholesterol levels were not appreciably lowered by switching to
chicken and fish.
"And an examination of the nutritional data suggests an explanation: while
it is true that chicken and fish contain less fat than beef, it is also true
that chicken and fish contain about twice as much cholesterol per calorie as
does beef. Indeed, some seafoods (such as crab, shrimp, and lobster) are
exceptionally high in cholesterol content.
"All of these diverse theories have roughly the same dietary implications.
Meat is high in cholesterol, saturated fat, and total fat. Plant foods, by
contrast, are usually low in saturated fat and total fat, and contain zero
cholesterol. Vegetarians have lower levels of serum cholesterol than do
meat-eaters, with total vegetarians (vegans) having the lowest levels of
all."
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