How Overcrowding, Antibiotics And Other Practices Are Affecting Fish In Farms Across India

India is one of the largest freshwater fish producers in the world and the aquaculture sector is only growing.

As per the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) data, about 14 million people were employed in the fishery and aquaculture sector and brought Rs 45106.89 cr export income in 2017-18.

BCCL

But what happens inside these farms is far from ideal and at times even dangerous for both the fish and those consuming it.

An investigation by animal rights group Animal Equality has exposes the cruel and illegal practices in the fishery and aquaculture sector and inefficient utilisation of precious resources like water and land.

Animal Equality

Grim observations

The several 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 objective of the study is to urge the government to introduce welfare measures for aquatic animals. Animal Equality has presented these findings to the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries along with a list of recommendations to reduce the suffering of fish. Some of these include adequate space allocation, making veterinary care mandatory, stunning fish before slaughter and stopping transport and sale of live fish. The government introduced Draft National Fisheries Policy 2020 and to that we have urged them to include our recommendations stating that one of the objectives of the policy should be to avoid the unnecessary suffering of aquatic animals, which stems from the objectives of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. Article 48 of the constitution states that animal husbandry should be organised on modern and scientific lines. Our recommendations are in consonance with both of these points.¡± Amruta Ubale, Senior Director of Public Affairs at Animal Equality said.

Animal Equality

It found several glaring laxities of fish welfare standards and those working in these farms.

The 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 procedure. The fingerlings are packed in small plastic bags and are transported to the farms.

Animal Equality

Thousands of fish are bred in small ponds - overcrowded and prone to diseases. Overcrowded fish suffer from more 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.

Animal Equality

At the farms, they're given feed laden with antibiotics. This blatant and unregulated use of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance among consumers. India is rated as one of the top countries for antibiotic resistance.

Animal Equality

The life span 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.

Animal Equality

When taken out of the water, fish try desperately to escape and return to water. 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 agonising death.

Animal Equality

Some species of fish like catfish are kept alive and slaughtered at the market. The loading, transport and unloading is a very stressful process for these fish; many of them die during the journey. At the market several of them are kept in buckets of shallow water. Conscious catfish were violently clubbed several times in order to slaughter them.

Animal Equality

Wild-caught fish are fed to farmed fish resulting in the rapid depletion in the wild variety of fish from the seas, oceans and rivers. About 25 percent of wild-caught fish is used for fish meal leading to rapid depletion of wild fish.

Child labour

Fish production also violates human rights. Children were seen slaughtering fish. Scientific studies have proven that children who are exposed to such horrific acts of cruelty get desensitised to the suffering of others including humans. This is also a blatant violation of the laws related to Prohibition of Child Labour.

Animal Equality

Inefficient utilisation of water

Fish farms adopt water-intensive practices for sustenance and pump out large quantities of groundwater which comes from rivers like Krishna, Godavari, and Kaveri. A typical one-acre pond with five-foot depth would require over 6 million liters per single filling. Considering the looming threat of 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.

Animal Equality

Water pollution

Fish farming also causes solid waste, which includes skin, viscera, fish heads, and carcasses, as well as liquid waste, including bloody water and brine from drained storage tanks and water discharge from washing and cleaning.

Land degradation

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 the 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.

Animal Equality

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 open containers to suffocate on land, just as we would suffocate in water¡ª slowly and painfully.