Catch sizes now regularly exceed sustainable levels and the demand is increasing.  As a result, we have now started farming fish (aquaculture) and this has become the world’s most rapidly expanding area of animal production.  The United Nations say that all seventeen of the world’s major fishing areas have reached or exceeded their natural limits, and nine are in serious decline.

Farmed fish are fed meal made from wild fish.  More than 3 tonnes of wild-caught fish are needed to produce 1 tonne of farmed salmon.   This means that a large part of the overfishing problem is just to feed farmed fish – in order to meet our demand for eating even more fish!

If the demand of eating fish is reduced, we might be able to start tackling this problem.  If you choose not to eat fish, that’s one less person demanding more fish …

Fish are dragged from the deep in their millions to suffocate slowly in the air or be crushed to death by the weight of their dying companions.  Decompression causes their eyes to pop out and their swim bladders to rupture. Those that survive get gutted alive. In addition to this, many unknown species of fish and plants are destroyed in the trawling process, plants and animals who have a long lifespan and take long to grow, in some cases over a hundred years.  See the Marine Bio trawling video on YouTube.

Fish are sensitive to stimuli (more than we are) and have a highly developed sense of touch – they feel pain.  It’s pain that motivates a fish to fight vigorously when hooked, in an attempt to get away.

(Parts of this text have been quoted from some of The Vegan Society’s booklets.)

Modern sheep bear very little resemblance to their wild ancestors and they have been selectively bred for farming.

Sheep with the most wool are kept in some of the world’s hottest climates and other breeds endure storms, drought and snow. Wild animal would naturally take cover in burrows or nests, but sheep are left exposed on fields with no shelter.

Under natural conditions ewes reproduce every spring, after five months gestation. Drugs now bring ewes into season up to six weeks early to ensure the flock ovulate all at once.

Semen for artificial insemination is obtained by masturbating rams by hand. Another method is to use electric probes in the anus, administering electric shock to make the ram ejaculate.

Commercial production of wool is directly linked to meat production. Lambs are slaughtered at 4-6 months old and a sheep kept for wool will soon be killed for meat. Pulled wool is taken from the skins of slaughtered sheep and lambs. When wool is first taken from sheep (dead or alive), it is rich in a natural grease called lanolin which is removed before the wool is processed into yarn or felt. Lanolin is used as a base in cosmetics, lotions and ointments.

There are plenty of natural and synthetic fibres that can be used instead of wool, such as hemp and cotton.

In the wild, the queen bee can live for several years, but in commercial beekeeping she could be killed and replaced every 6 months. Her wings are clipped to prevent swarming (the natural method for a colony to reproduce itself). New queens are mass produced and artificially inseminated using sperm from crushed males.

Bees swallow nectar and then regurgitate it, resulting in honey, which is fed their young. Individual bee lives are short but a colony can continue for many years. Most commercially run colonies are killed before winter to avoid feeding them. If they are kept alive over the winter, the young are fed sugar candy or syrup instead of honey.

Beeswax is secreted by glands on the underbelly of the bee and is produced to build homes for bee food reserves. Honey and beeswax are both used in food, cosmetics, toiletries, candles and polishes are easily replaceable by alternatives. Other bee products such as propolis, pollen, royal jelly  and venom are marketed with doubtful health-giving benefits.

Human bodies do not need any of the products bees produce.

… approximately 100 worms died to make one silk tie or one silk scarf …

The caterpillars of a Chinese moth, silkworms, no longer occur naturally (in the wild). They spin fibrous cocoons around themselves for protection when they are preparing to become a chrysalis. The cocoon is secreted as a continuous filament by glands in the head. Commercially, the chrysalis is killed by heat while still in the cocoon to prevent the adult moth emerging and breaking the fibre. Some moths are bred (allowed to emerge from the cocoon), as stock for the next generation of silkworms. The cocoons are then softened in hot water, then the (nearly mile-long) filaments are unwound to make yarn. Human workers who extract the fibre work in poor conditions, for low pay.

Industrialisation can produce 100 kg of raw silk per hectare per year on good agricultural land. One silkworm produces only about 0.2 grams of raw silk. This means around half a million silkworms, (who eat 12 tons of mulberry leaves) are bred and killed. The lives of 100 worms are needed for each silk tie or scarf.

Alternative fibres with the same qualities as silk, but without the exploitation of animals, people and the environment (land which could be left for wildlife or used to grow food) are less expensive.

Human beings are the only creatures on earth who:

a) drink milk after infancy, and

b) drink the milk of another animal that is not the same species as them.

This is not normal and it’s not natural.  Despite this, the demand for milk and dairy products continue to increase.

For a cow (or any other mammal) to produce milk, they have to give birth.  To make sure that cows are making milk, they are constantly made pregnant (often artificially inseminated).

Modern day calves are taken away from their mothers within DAYS of being born.  Most male calves are usually killed, at a few days old, for their meat.  The remaining calves are given formula milk and are raised to become dairy cows – so the cycle of milk production can continue relentlessly.

When dairy cows have produced all the milk they possibly can, over just a few years, they are sent to slaughter for meat.

By consuming milk and dairy products, you are automatically contributing to the demand for the meat production industry too.  There are abundant alternatives to dairy such as soya, coconut, hemp, nut, etc.  Some take getting used to, but all are worth trying.