INVESTIGATION: The Cruel and Illegal Practices of India’s Fishing Industry
- A new investigation from Animal Equality exposes the abuses and crimes of India’s fishery and aquaculture sector and shows the inefficient use of precious resources, like water and land.
THE DETAILS: Animal Equality investigated several Indian fish and shrimp farms, hatcheries, and fish markets from Feb 2019 to May 2020 in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, which are known for their fish production. The cycle of cruelty seems to never end, with our team witnessing fish suffering in a variety of ways. One particularly brutal practice is “fish milking,” an extremely painful process in which the eggs from a female fish are squeezed out by hand. In another, farmed fish are killed by asphyxiation as workers pull them from the water and put them on ice to slowly and agonizingly suffocate to death. Our investigators also found:
- Thousands of fish bred in small, overcrowded ponds, which are prone to disease spread.
- Many fish crushed to death by the weight of other fish when they’re caught in nets and dumped into containers.
- Workers cutting the gills of fish without prior stunning, resulting in the animals bleeding to death.
- Some species of fish, like catfish, are slaughtered and sold at unsanitary markets.
- Conscious catfish clubbed several times in an effort to slaughter them.
Children were seen slaughtering fish, which violates child-employment laws.
WASTED RESOURCES: Fish farms need an exorbitant amount of water for operation and pump out large quantities of groundwater, which comes from nearby rivers, leading to drastic reductions in the region’s water table. In addition, fishery and aquaculture farms require large tracts of land in areas with an abundance of water, reducing the agricultural yield from these sectors.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Animal Equality has presented our findings to the Government of India, along with a list of recommendations to reduce the suffering of fish. In addition, a petition was launched urging the Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying, and Fisheries to consider these recommendations.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING: “The objective of India’s 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act is to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals. And according to our country’s Constitution, Article 48 states that animal husbandry should be organized on modern and scientific lines. Given our investigation’s findings. the Indian government must consider our recommendations, as they are in line with the PCA Act and the Constitution.” Amruta Ubale, Senior Director of Public Affairs for Animal Equality India.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: The reality is that animals, especially aquatic animals, are not afforded adequate protections in our food system, and the abuse we filmed is unfortunately commonplace in the fishery and aquaculture industry. You can help change the future for these animals by leaving them off your plate and share our investigation’s findings with your family and friends. Together, we can make a difference. If you’d like to do more to help, consider signing up to be part of our online action team. The animals will thank you.
HELP ANIMALS FROM THE COMFORT OF HOME - BECOME AN ANIMAL PROTECTOR! https://animalequality.org/volunteer
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Transcript (English — en)
animal equality conducted an
investigation to expose the cruel
and inhumane methods prevalent in the
fisheries sector
several hatcheries fish and shrimp farms
and fish markets in west bengal
tamilnadu andhra pradesh and telangana
were documented as a part of this
investigation
india contributes about 6.3 percent of
the world's fish production
and as it becomes more and more
commercialized
the fishery and aquaculture industry has
adopted abusive production practices
this cycle of cruelty begins with a
process called fish milking
in which the eggs from a female fish are
squeezed out
by hand fish suffer from excruciating
pain
trauma and stress during this process
the fingerlings are packed in small
plastic bags and are transported to the
farms
[Music]
intensive type of fishery and
aquaculture adopts various methods like
artificial pawns
recirculating aquaculture system open
sea cages
these methods put the animals in a very
unnatural and uncomfortable environment
thousands of fish shrimps and other
animals are reared in small enclosures
overcrowded fish suffer from stress
aggression
and physical injuries such as fin damage
overcrowding can also lead to poor water
quality
leaving the fish with less oxygen to
breathe
at the farms fish are given feed laden
with antibiotics to grow their bodies
unnaturally fast in a short period of
time
this blatant and unregulated use of
antibiotics
leads to antibiotic resistance among
consumers
leading to fatal conditions india is
rated as one of the top countries for
antibiotic resistance
the lifespan of carp can be 20 years but
those bred for consumption
are slaughtered within a year
many of the fish are crushed to death by
the weight of other fish
when they are caught in nets and dumped
into containers
when taken out of water fish try
desperately to escape and return to the
sea
the traditional method for killing
farmed fish is to asphyxiate them by
leaving them
out of the water or on ice leading to a
slow and agonizing death
fish production also violates human
rights scientific studies have proven
that children who are exposed to such
horrific acts of cruelty
become desensitized to the suffering of
others
including humans this is also a blatant
violation of the laws
related to prohibition of child labour
fish farms adopt water intensive
practices for sustenance and pump out
large quantities of groundwater
which comes from rivers like krishna
gudavri and kaveri
a typical one acre pond with 5 foot
depth
would require over 6 million liters per
single filling
considering the looming threat to
climate change these rivers may dry up
or change course in the near future
leading to drastic reductions of the
water table
in the region fishery and aquaculture
farms require
large tracts of land they are mostly set
up in areas with an abundance of water
naturally such areas are most suitable
for agriculture
due to easy availability of water
however
thousands of hectares of fertile land is
now converted into water
bodies this has reduced the agricultural
yield
from these areas and it also threatens
the food security
of the region
fish that reach the market are sold in
very
unhygienic conditions they are thrown in
containers and covered in ice
while they are fully conscious
their gills are cut without prior
stunning resulting in them bleeding to
death
they are also left in the open
containers to suffocate on land
just as we would suffocate in water
slowly and painfully
some species of fish like catfish are
kept alive
and slaughtered at the market
animal equality has presented these
findings to the government of india
along with a list of recommendations to
reduce the suffering of fish
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