Commercial fishing
Commercial fishing and fish farming
Huge numbers of fish and prawns are caught by commercial fishermen. These animals suffer a miserable death as they suffocate when pulled out of the water. Anyone who has ever been unable to breathe knows how terrifying this experience is.
There are different methods of fishing, and all of them catch unwanted animals. Trawling, where nets are pulled behind boats, is particularly destructive. The nets catch everything in their path, including many unwanted fish species, sea turtles, and sea snakes. Many of these animals die.
In long lining, a long line of baited hooks is dropped behind a boat. Again, many unwanted fish species are hooked, as well as sea birds who dive for the bait and then drown. Long lines are a threat to the endangered wandering albatross.
Gill nets are left hanging vertically in the water. They are supposed to catch and drown edible sharks, but many other animals also become entangled and drown, including dolphins.
Fish populations in many areas have been dramatically reduced due to over-fishing. One proposed solution is fish farming, as in the tuna cages used at Port Lincoln in South Australia. However, tuna fishing is no answer because:
- the tuna are still caught from the wild and towed to Port Lincoln;
- the tuna eat huge quantities of pilchards, which are also caught from the wild.
It takes 17kgs of pilchards to produce 1kg of tuna. This is a very wasteful industry based entirely on the luxury Japanese market.
The real solution to the cruelty and dwindling fish populations is to stop eating fish, which is both more humane and more efficient. For suggestions on how to change your diet, go to Vegetarianism - the cruelty-free diet .
For more detailed information, including references, go to The Australian fishing industry.