The Perils of the Fish-Farming Industry

The fish farming industry, also known as aquaculture or pisciculture, has snowballed in recent decades to meet the rising demand for seafood.

Global production through the fish farming industry has quadrupled over the past 50 years, and the pressure on wild fish has caused a rise in fish farms.

These farms are located in seawater, freshwater or even speciality indoor tanks.

While fish farming promises a solution to the overfishing of wild fish stocks, the reality is much grimmer. Fish, we know, are sentient beings.

“Fish are seldom afforded the same level of compassion or welfare as warm-blooded vertebrates. Part of the problem is the large gap between people’s perception of fish intelligence and the scientific reality.”

-Culum Brown, a professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

We think of fish swimming in large schools and don’t consider that they have abilities capable of perceiving and experiencing sensations.

Fish exhibit a mental complexity comparable to other vertebrates, and there is increasing evidence to suggest that they experience pain similarly to humans.

Industrial fish farms are causing immense suffering to the fish trapped within them.

Cramped Conditions

Typically, thousands of fish are crowded into small pens or enclosures. They have no room to swim freely or express natural behaviours. The high stocking density stresses the fish and can lead to injuries from aggression and fin biting. Diseased and injured fish are typically left to suffer and, like many other factory farming scenarios, with no veterinary care.

Rampant Disease and Pollution

The crowded and unsanitary conditions in fish farms make disease outbreaks rampant. A fish infected with a contagious virus can quickly spread to other fish within the farm. Fish are also prone to parasite infestations, with farmed salmon particularly vulnerable to sea lice outbreaks.

According to a Time magazine article, an anaemia outbreak in a Maine aquaculture facility in the year 2000…