“Every year, 1.1 to 2.2 trillion wild fish are caught around the world“. This data, which emerged from a recent study published in the magazine Animal Welfare, reveals the silent massacre taking place in the oceans. But it’s not just about numbers: behind these figures lies a reality of suffering and exploitation that is rarely brought to light.
In fact, the fishing industry is not limited to catch an unsustainable number of fish. It also subjects them to terrible living conditions, both in intensive farming and during wild fishing, often culminating in an atrocious death: bagged alive.
Intensive farming
In intensive farming, fish are crammed into overcrowded tanks, where they live in precarious hygienic conditions and are exposed to diseases and parasites. They are often mutilated, stripped of their fins or even blinded, to prevent them from harming each other in the confined space in which they are forced to live.
Wild fishing
Wild fishing also has a devastating impact on fish life. Trawl nets indiscriminately capture all forms of life, killing not only fish intended for human consumption, but also turtles, dolphins and other marine creatures. The caught fish agonize for hours before dying, suffocated or crushed by the weight of the other animals.
Bagged alive
One of the cruelest practices in the fishing industry it is the bagging of live fish. This practice, widespread especially for species such as carp, tench and eels, consists of placing fish in plastic bags, condemning them to a slow and agonizing death by suffocation.
As FAO explains in its document “Live Fish Transport”, fish need oxygen to survive. When they are deprived of water, they can no longer breathe and begin to suffocate. Lack of oxygen causes irreversible damage to internal organs, causing a slow and painful death.
According to the study “Estimating global numbers of fishes captured from the wild annually from 2000 to 2019”, which analyzed the extent of wild fish fishing and its impact on animal welfare:
