Foto: Michael Pitts/naturepl.com
Our March 30, Sinergia Animal helped organize actions in four different countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Thailand. We are part of a global coalition called World Day for the End of Fishing. Similar actions were held in over 90 different cities and the campaign is supported by over 152 different organizations around the world.
Would you like to know why so many people are ditching fish and joining this movement? Please see key facts below:
FISH ARE SENTIENT BEINGS
Recent research has demonstrated for the first time that fish have emotional states and do feel pain. They also have individual personalities, form friendships and are social animals in a similar way to humans and other mammals.
1,000 to 3,000 billion fish are killed every year! These animals make up 95% of the victims consumed for their meat.
We are attending an incredible massacre, without doing anything about it. Aquatic animals may be different from us but that doesn’t mean their lives are any less valuable. They deserve our moral consideration, like all other animals.
Fish are friends, not food!
OVERFISHING IS KILLING OUR OCEANS
According to the United Nations, the health of fisheries and ocean ecosystems are increasingly being put at risk by overfishing, as well as illegal fishing.
Nearly two-thirds of the stocks (64 per cent) are classified as overexploited and 23 per cent are fully exploited.
Research conducted by the University of Halifax also warned that there could be no fish left in the oceans by 2048, if we don’t act now.
Photo: Oceana
WHALES, DOLPHINS, TURTLES AND SHARKS ARE BEING KILLED
It is not only fish that are being massacred. Each year more than 100,000 whales, dolphins, seals, turtles and other marine animals get caught in abandoned or lost fishing nets, long lines, fish traps and lobster pots.
Around 100 million sharks are killed by the fishing industry every year around the world, a number that far exceeds what many populations need to recover.
IT IS NOT JUST STRAWS, FISHING ALSO MEANS PLASTIC POLLUTION
Pollution from fishing is a big problem. Research conducted Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the world’s largest collection of floating trash, found that fishing nets are the number one source of plastic pollution and account for 46 percent of the trash, with the majority of the rest composed of other fishing industry gear.
It is estimated that between 600,000–800,000 metric tonnes of ghost gear enters the ocean each year and their plastic can take up to 600 years to break down.
how can you help?
The best way to help animals and the environment is to adopt a vegan diet. You can check a lot of Thai vegan recipes here.
Please also send this website page to many friends and family members inviting them to get informed and take action: www.sinergiaanimalthailand.org/fishing