Watch Out, NEMO and SpongeBob!
Michael Sauers
March 28, 2025
Some people still believe the world is flat while others contend that the Earth is hollow. Incredibly, some folks still believe that marine life; crabs, lobster, fish, mollusks, crustaceans and mammals do not feel pain or experience distress. Science has put this to rest as the consensus is that they do feel pain/distress.
So, lets begin with lobsters, crabs and shrimp. Pescatarians eat seafood. Scientists have concluded that these creatures do, in fact, feel pain as they are dismembered and cooked in various ways including being boiled alive. Tens of millions of lobsters, hundreds of millions of crabs and billions of shrimp are eaten every year. They are hauled out of the water, torn apart and cooked in fancy sounding dishes like Lobster Bisque, Caskata Lobster, Shayne Greco Lobster or they are tied up, sent to market and cooked alive by consumers. Crabs become crab cakes, a favorite, Crab Imperial and Garlic Crab Pasta. Shrimp become Shrimp Scampi, Shrimp Cocktails and Shrimp Curry. The volume of these creatures captured does impact ocean ecosystems and bring debate around economic and animal cruelty issues.
Moving on to fish, the numbers are similar. Once they are hauled out of the water they begin to suffocate. They are gutted and cleaned while still alive. Yes, they do feel pain. They are then sent to markets in various configurations. Over fishing is quite common and some areas of the ocean have been depleted. Millions of sharks are caught strictly for their fins while some fish are caught just to harvest “caviar”. Industrial scale fishing involves trawling, purse seining, longlining, gillnetting and dredging. All are cruel, non-discriminating methods that result in habitat destruction, ecological impacts and sustainability issues.
Norway, Iceland and Japan still engage in commercial whaling. Some aboriginal communities still practice subsistence whaling.
So, let me just say that from every perspective: energy, nutrition, pollution, efficiency, ethics, etc. a vegan diet is far superior whether it is compared to meat or fish. It is truly something to chew on!