Enviro reasons for not eating seafood or poultry?

[dcapl]

Hi all,

I'm a veggie and am wondering if someone can remind me what are the negative ENVIRONMENTAL impacts of eating seafood and poultry (more so the seafood)? My girlfriend asked me this evening why I don't at least eat these two (for enviro reasons) and I couldn't even remember. I recall trudging (is that what it's called?), where they take the big nets and harm other water species when they're trying to harvest shrimp but that's about it. I still remember the deal with beef, and I know all the ethical arguments for all of it, but can someone please remind me what the ENVIRONMENTAL arguments are for not eating seafood or poultry?

Thank you,
Dawn

[Wanda]

This link (http://www.fishinghurts.com/enviro.html) from PETA's FishingHurts.com has some good info about fishing and the environment.

United Poultry Concerns (http://www.upc-online.org/environment/) gives good info about poultry and the environment.

[Kevster]

Green peace are banging on about issues like by-catch, where dolphins, whales and turtles are caught along with other species, check out the Greenpeace web-site for their latest 'campaign'. Also, funnily enough, dolphin friendly Tuna, maybe friendly to dolphins but not to other species. The trawling of the seas for our own consumption also lessens the amounts of food for other species of fish and mammals.

For example, the Japanese whaling commission believes that whales should be killed because they eat too many fish.

Poultry - disease. From the Independent:

Twenty-eight dead as bird flu returns to ravage Asia
By Jan McGirk in Bangkok
13 September 2004

In these apocalyptical times, Asians are facing pestilence as well as war. Bird flu is back with a vengeance, with 28 people dead and new outbreaks recorded last week in Thailand and Malaysia. Three chicken farmers' children with high fevers are under observation in hospital in Prachinburi province, eastern Thailand, just days after a teenage fighting-cock breeder succumbed to virulent respiratory flu.

But, if a person were to eat eggs...

Environmental benefits (?) include ground bones for garden fertiliser, widely available, and my parents have used it on our garden, much to my consternation, and chicken s*it too, plus ground male chicks for the larger agriculture enterprises.

[gertvegan]

Hello dcapl, for some enviro reasons not to eat fish, click HERE (http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/fish/index.html) and for some enviro reasons not to eat poultry click HERE (http://www.factoryfarming.com/poultry.htm)

[dcapl]

Wow guys,

Thank you so much for the info. I look forward to reading it as soon as I get a break. If anyone else has something more that they'd like to share, please do. I'm all ears. Thanks so much again!

Warmly,
Dawn

[ConsciousCuisine]

Glad you got some good responses...what about the health reasons for avoiding them? Do you have enough of those or would you like more? :)

[dcapl]

Well, those are always good too but I'm sorry to say that the environment is more important to me than my own health. How terrible is that? Please do share though if you wish.

[Roxy]

I have also read that trawling for prawns (shrimp) in Asia is damaging the mangroves, which in turn creates erosion and loss of habitat for all of the little creatures which live amongst the mangroves.

[eve]

I'm sorry to say that the environment is more important to me than my own health. How terrible is that? Please do share though if you wish.
What about the health of the fish?

[Roxy]

Eve - since moving to Canada, I have heard and read a lot about mercury and fish. Is this a problem in Australia too?

[eve]

It is, but I was thinking about the 'health' of the fish who are killed to feed people who like to eat them!

[Roxy]

Poor things!

[dcapl]

Would the health of the fish be not due to the environment in which they are in? Hence, we are back to the environment and lessening our impacts on it so I think we're both talking about the same thing, just using different words.

[gertvegan]

Hello again, I haven't had time to read it but have a look at THIS (http://www.ciwf.org.uk/eatlessmeat/report/html/front.html) , The Global Benefits Of Eating Less Meat from Compassion in World Farming Trust.

[eve]

Would the health of the fish be not due to the environment in which they are in? Hence, we are back to the environment and lessening our impacts on it so I think we're both talking about the same thing, just using different words.
No we're not talking about the same thing. When I questioned 'what about the health of the fish', I was referring to the fact that people catch them, kill them, eat them - bringing to an end the life of the fish, healthy or otherwise. I am not a vegan for environmental reasons (even though a vegan diet is gentler on the planet), I live a vegan lifestyle out of compassion for all living beings. Anybody who eats animals yet considers themselves an environmentalist, or an animal rights activist, are illogical.

[dcapl]

eve, I appreciate your thoughts but, without any disrespect, I'd like to keep this thread on topic. I am a vegan and an environmentalist yet I do not think that any of that pertains to this specific thread. All that the thread was asking was what are the environmental impacts of eating poultry or seafood?

[gertvegan]

Environmental Hazards of poultry. just HERE. (http://www.poultry.org/environment.htm)

[dcapl]

Thank you so much!

[gertvegan]

"Planet on a Plate" from viva!

Planet on a Plate is an excellent introduction to the problems wrought by the traditional Western meat-based diet and the increasing role that factory farms play in exacerbating an already dangerous situation. HERE. (http://www.viva.org.uk/guides/planetonaplate.htm)