Salmon exploited on Scottish fish farms being eaten alive by out-of-control sea lice

Salmon exploited on Scottish fish farms being eaten alive by out-of-control sea lice

Figures release by the Salmon and Trout Association on 9 April showed 68 instances of fish farms having sea-lice levels above “recommended threshold levels” in 2009 and 2010, with salmon suffering from injury and death due to the infestations.
In a further 48 instances, fish farms were reported for not recording sea-lice numbers in accordance with industry standards.

Sea lice flourish in the dirty, crowded conditions on fish farms, where up to 50,000 salmon can be crowded into a single cage. Sea lice literally eat the fish alive, and damage can be so severe around the head that the living fishes’ skull is exposed. Further concern is that the high levels of lice on fish farms can also infect free-living salmon and kill whole populations.

S&TA said there were no unannounced inspections and fish farms were given seven to 10 days to prepare for a visit. Both the industry and the government disagreed with the association’s interpretation of the data.


via The Press and Journal

Crammed into cages, farmed fish are often swim in constant circles - exhibiting the same stress-induced stereotypies of animals exploited in zoos. Fishes on fish farms also suffer eye infections, fin and tail injuries, body deformities, alarmingly high mortality, and sea lice - which are treated with strong chemical nerve toxins.

There is clear scientific evidence to confirm that fishes are just as capable of experiencing pain and suffering as dogs, cats and all other vertebrate animals. Although they're not warm or fluffy, and they don't make sounds we can hear, fishes are covered with nerves that detect pain and they have sufficient brain development to be 'aware' of what is happening to them. According to Huntiford (2002), fishes have senses for detecting stimulation of pain, and cerebral mechanisms which process the stimulation and provoke negative physical responses.

“The claim that fish ‘do not have the right sort of brain’ to feel pain can no longer be called scientific” Professor John Webster, University of Bristol.

Shockingly, trillions of these sentient creatures are netted, impaled, hauled from the water, crushed, suffocated, hacked apart, clubbed, gassed and gutted every year – while still totally conscious and aware of every moment of their excruciating experience.

It is not necessary to eat fish or fish oils to stay healthy. Omega 3 essential fatty acids for brain health can easily be obtained from linseeds, walnuts, soybeans and some dark green vegetables.
Research from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC study) found that vegetarians and vegans convert the short chain fatty acids found in these foods to the long chain versions needed by the brain at a higher rate than fish eaters and both groups end up with similar levels in the blood.

Fishes suffer and die in their trillions to end up on our plates, or are ground up and fed to farmed chicken or other fish. Each one of these deaths mattered to that fish who had to suffer. By refusing to participate in this hidden massacre and living as vegans we mean that animals won't be forced to suffer and die for our consumption and we build a base of support for a kinder and more just world, regardless of species.