Love the Ocean? Here’s Why You Should Ditch the Fish
On World Ocean Day, we explore why choosing animal-free seafood can help protect and restore the oceans.
Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
There’s nothing quite like standing on the edge of the ocean, a salt breeze in your hair, and sand underfoot. And the oceans offer more than just solace - from the air we breathe, to climate regulation, these great waters are important for our very survival.
But the oceans are under attack. 55 percent of the ocean is now covered by industrial fishing, and this industry is wreaking havoc by threatening delicate ecosystems and plundering the homes of aquatic animals.
Today is World Ocean Day, so why not consider ditching the fish in favor of sustainable, animal-free alternatives? Here are four reasons why:
Fishing Methods
The industrial fishing industry is quite literally scraping the bottom of the ocean floor to drag marine animals out of their home. This is called “bottom trawling” and is a well-used technique by commercial fishing operations, whereby boats drag heavy-weighted nets across the sea floor to catch everything in its path. This is decimating ecosystems and habitats while causing immense suffering to the animals who become trapped in the nets.
Longline fishing is another method used by the fishing industry. Similar to bottom trawling, this method has been designed to capture and kill as many fish as possible, but instead of nets, it uses fishing lines with hooks. The lines can be 50-100km long and the fish caught on the hooks can be left impaled for days before the long lines are hauled to the surface. Fish aren’t the only animals suffering due to this technique; sea birds, sea turtles and sharks, as well as non-target fish (known as bycatch) also meet their deaths on the hooks.
The Plastic Problem
Ditching the plastic straws is great, but realistically, it will barely scratch the surface of the plastic pollution choking the oceans. According to a recent report by environmental advocacy organization, Greenpeace, lost and discarded fishing gear, such as lines, nets, and pots, makes up the vast majority of large plastic pollution in the oceans. In fact, an estimated 640,000 tonnes of ghost gear enters the ocean every year - that’s the equivalent in weight to more than 50,000 double decker buses. This discarded gear (gear that is specifically designed to catch and kill marine animals) then traps, entangles, smothers or kills marine life. One of the most powerful ways to get to the heart of the problem, is to simply swap out the seafood with ocean-friendly, plant-based alternatives.
Fish Sentience
“Nowhere is our superiority complex more apparent than in our attitude toward other animals. We would do well to consider that no beings have any say in whether they are born manatees, bats, hornbills or betta fish, and that they all have an equal desire to live their lives in freedom.” - Jonathan Balcome, NYT’s bestselling author of What a Fish Knows.
Although the world is becoming increasingly aware of the exploitation of animals in the food system, many people continue to disregard fish from these ethical considerations. Pescatarian is a popular diet choice, as though the suffering of these aquatic animals is less important despite their sentience. Scientific evidence strongly suggests that fish experience pain, have memory and are capable of learning - and it’s high time we start protecting these animals, too.
Fish-Free Fare is Delicious
But it’s not all doom and gloom and ditching the seafood doesn't have to be a chore! By choosing plant-based alternatives and experimenting with fish-free foods, you’ll be opening yourself up to a whole new, exciting industry that is working on the front lines to prevent the oceans from being fished clean.
Vegan seafood delivers the taste and texture of the most popular seafood products without devastating the oceans and slaughtering over a trillion fish each year. Popular companies already have tasty alternatives readily available in stores, while innovative, cutting-edge startups are employing food scientists and leading nutritionists to create lab-grown versions of seafood.
What can we do?
The situation may sound dire, but there is hope. Despite damage caused by human activity, marine life could recover to healthy levels in the next 30 years if pressures on the world's oceans were combatted, according to a recent report by scientists.
In parts of the world, people may have fish to survive, in which case it would be justifiable. But everyone else has a role they can play to preserve and protect the oceans. The first step we can take is to examine our daily choices and see where to make a change; try swapping out seafood for animal-free alternatives, or consider hosting an ocean-themed vegan night to inform and inspire your friends!
With climate change rapidly accelerating, we have to take action now to reduce our impact on the oceans, as much as we can - and what better day to start than World Ocean Day.
Get Your Free Plant-Based Dinner Host Guide
More stories:
Species Unite
A collection of stories of those who fight the good fight on behalf of animals.
The 2024 election cycle will continue to be discussed and debated by pundits and social scientists for years to come, but the majority will overlook one group that lost big in this election: animals.