A study by researchers at the University of Waterloo, the
Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, and Chile’s University of
Valparaiso found that vaccines
commonly used at fish factory farms are useless because tanks are rife with
waste and disease.
Researchers discovered that despite the reduction in
bacteria living inside the fish, vaccinated fish are unable to fight off
multiple diseases at once. This is the first study to show how parasites in
fish can override vaccines for another disease.
Biology professor Brian Dixon explains:
Fish have a limited number of resources to respond to an illness so their immune system makes choices—when they’re infected by sea lice, for example, the fish’s immune system is suddenly geared to respond to that specific threat, leaving them totally exposed to other threats like P. salmonis.
So how often do fish contract parasites like sea lice? The
answer: all the time.
You see, fish factory farms are filthy and overcrowded,
making them perfect breeding grounds for parasites. Last year an outbreak of sea lice stretched from Scandinavia to Chile.
Now nearly half of Scotland’s salmon farms are infested with the parasite,
which feeds on blood, skin, and slime.
Recent undercover footage of salmon factory farms off
Vancouver Island reveals unimaginable horror: blind, emaciated salmon swimming
in their own feces. What’s more, a 17-year report discovered that sea lice from
one of the fish farms had been killing young wild salmon.
But fish factory farming is not just filthy and dangerous. It’s
also unspeakably cruel. A study published in the Journal of Experimental
Biology found that salmon bred and raised at fish factory farms grow
at such an accelerated rate that more than half go partially deaf. Another
study found that many farmed salmon suffer from severe depression.
Known as “drop outs, depressed salmon float lifelessly.
After their miserable lives at factory farms, fish face a
gruesome death. Despite their
capacity to feel pain, the seafood industry treats fish as mere objects.
In 2011 Mercy For Animals conducted an undercover
investigation at a fish slaughter facility and exposed fish being skinned alive. They
thrashed and fought to escape the workers’ knives. As the fish gasped for
oxygen, workers ripped off their skin with pliers.
The seafood industry obviously doesn’t care about the well-being
of fish.
Thankfully, we can withdraw our support by leaving aquatic
life off our plates and switching to a compassionate vegan diet. Click here to learn more. And check out these cruelty-free, sea-inspired recipes.