Animal rights activists attribute Mahatma Gandhi to saying, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.”
The statement has become a mantra for them, and on October 2, two of those groups protested fish farming practices at Icicle Seafoods headquarters in Interbay.
Just days before the Fishermen’s Fall Festival at Fishermen’s Terminal, around 20 individuals from Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN) and Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), protested what they called the “brutalization and killing of animals,” perpetrated by Icicle Seafoods and the fishing industry as a whole.
The demonstration was part of World Day for Farmed Animals, a coordinated effort with other organizations protesting at other animal agriculture facilities around the world. Protesters fasted the entire day, held signs and passed out pamphlets that depicted gruesome scenes of animals suffering as a result of industrial animal agriculture. Many protesters drove from Portland, Ore. for the demonstration.
The group accused Icicle of keeping more than 500,000 fish in cramped bins and inhumanely dressing them during the processing phase. The organizations reported that fish in the wild and farmed industries are “processed” in a most egregious way: fish are cut open in the abdomen, have their entrails removed and muscular tissue fileted while some are conscious – some skinned alive.
Lead organizer for the event, Franziska Edwards, said that people are less aware of the welfare of fish compared to pets and other farm animals.
“This protest memorializes and speaks out for animals who are brutally killed at this slaughterhouse,” said Edwards. “We intend to tell the public that all animals raised for food face a gruesome slaughter and deserve our respect.”
Edwards elaborated on her cause and said that farmed fish suffer their entire lives and many of them suffer to death from sea lice and cramped living areas and even insanity.
“The protest is more for passers-by and the public, and I hope that it will make them think of the fact that all animal products they eat were created with a huge amount of suffering, even when they don't see it. There is no such thing as humane meat or fish, and it’s completely avoidable suffering because we don't need animal products to survive, and are actually a lot healthier without them.”
Considering the “barbaric” way the fish are processed, Edwards reported that fish studies like those of Australian researcher Culum Brown (Animal Cognition journal) and Victoria Braithwaite’s book, “Do Fish Feel Pain?” have confirmed that fish feel pain much like other vertebrates and show the ability to fear and learn from those experiences.
“FARM protests the conditions for farm animals everywhere. When people think of farm animals they think turkey, chicken, cows and pigs, but most people don’t know that there are more than double the volume of marine animals harvested. That’s probably due to the fact that fish display pain unrecognizable to how humans can see it. …It’s hard enough to get people to empathize with cute and fluffy animals, so it might be tough for people to empathize with fish.”
Seattle resident, Jerry Esterly, made it out to protest the fishing industry with his dog, Hunter. Esterly grew up working on merchant ships and fell into fish processing and commercial fishing. He said once he worked in that environment for a few years he had seen and done enough.
Jerry Esterly with dog, Hunter, protesting the fishing industry. Photo by Shane Harms
“I worked in the industry and after a while it was something I didn’t want. I didn’t want to be involved. It’s horrible for the environment. It’s horrible for the animals. People need to be careful what they do because it’s bad for our souls. We have to live on this planet and now, especially now, with global warming and climate change, we really need to think about what we are doing,” said Esterly.
Esterly added to the notion that fish feel pain and deserve the same animal rights as other animals.
“People think of fish as a vegetable or a sub-kind of animal but they feel. They feel pain and have a right to their life just like everybody else. So we are out here to pass out information and increase the awareness and to just get people thinking.”
“People mean well and if we can get the word out it will give them something to think about. Fish do feel pain and they have the right to their life. … This is the place to be (Interbay) to make people think about this issue being an epicenter of the fishing industry. At one time Richland was the epicenter of making atomic weapons and so because it’s the epicenter of fishing people here especially need to be thinking about what they are contributing to.”
In addition, Edwards and the group were demonstrating for environmental reasons as well. Edwards directed the Ballard News-Tribune to read UN reports advising the world population to adopt a more vegan style (no animal product) in order to curb carbon emissions and environmental impact. The reports mention that by the year 2050 experts predict that there will be 9 billion people and meat consumption is expected to double. Currently more than half of the world’s crops go toward animal feed. The UN advises a radical change in human’s diet to reduce pollution, fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
So just how big is Icicle?
Icicle Seafoods owns and operates fishing boats, onshore plants, aquaculture plants and processing vessels throughout Alaska and Washington. According to the Icicle Seafood’s website, they have been practicing aquaculture (farming seafood) for the last thirty years. They farm Atlantic salmon in Puget Sound, and have farms near Bainbridge Island, Cypress Island, Port Angeles and Hope Island, Washington.
According to Icicle, they employ 45 people with permanent, full-time, year-round positions at their farms and 16 at their hatchery. In addition, their fish-processing contractor employs approximately 50 people. They report that from their operations they collectively contribute over $12 million in wages ($50,000 per employee) and through purchasing of goods and services.
One of nine fish farms owned by Icicle Seafoods in Puget Sound. Photo from http://icicleseafoods.com/.
There operations allow their customers to purchase Atlantic salmon year round.
Despite UN’s adviser’s recommendations to eat less meat, the fish farming industry contends they are keeping up with the world’s demand for more protein and that they are feeding the world with a healthy, profitable and sustainable option.
With demand from consumers, the industry is on the rise. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 50 percent of all fish consumed is farmed, and that number is expected to rise. Moreover, experts say there will need to be another 40 million tons of seafood produced per year worldwide by 2030 just to keep up with current demand.
Icicle is thoroughly aware of the potential for growth. According to a Icicle report called, "Commercial Net Pen Salmon Farming in Washington State," the company has discussed their farming operations. The report states that there is more than enough room in the 1.16 million acres of Puget Sound and the 50 percent of the Strait of Juan de Fuca within U.S. waters for fish farming.
“Our salmon need to be reared at low densities in a healthy, clean marine environment – the health of Puget Sound is as important to salmon farmers as it is to all Washingtonians,”
Indeed, Icicle Seafoods and the whole fishing industry depend on the health of the ecosphere. However, activists and some scientists say fish farming is bad for the environment because of a build up of fish fecal material, wasted feed building up under pens, sea lice and disease spreading to wild salmon species.
Icicle had its own scare in May of 2012 when American Gold Seafood -- an affiliate of Icicle -- reported the IHN virus infected their fish stocks. More than a million pounds of their Atlantic salmon product had to be terminated.
Moreover, there is risk of penned salmon escaping and reproducing with wild species. In addition, with consumption warnings for children and pregnant women, some scientists say the fish it too toxic for some people to eat.
The Ballard News-Tribune asked a fisherman at Fishermen’s Terminal what he thought about aquaculture. James -- who asked to not use his last name -- said that the alleged abuse and risk to the environment is worth it in order to feed a booming human population.
“I would say that’s true: fish do feel,” said James, and mentioned how on one occasion after catching a flounder, it arched its back in a kind of ecstasy when its belly was rubbed.
“ I agree with the activist that fish feel pain, but we need to be in a realistic world. I just ate a hamburger, what do you think that cow felt like?”
“In a natural world things eat other things. You see a spider catch a fly and it eats it. … I would say that farming fish is more cruel than wild caught because they are kept in ponds or pens. They feed the fish things that they don’t eat naturally and sometimes develop diseases, and they can be worse for you to eat than a hot dog. I would say in some capacity it’s more important to provide protein for people even if it’s not as good because of the toxins in the fats.”
Indeed, everyone has to eat. The question is what and who will provide?
What’s more is will Icicle Seafoods expand to meet the consumption demand with other companies?
Icicle’s lease holdings in the Puget Sound total 184 acres and by their calculations, less than a third of a square mile or .02 percent of the available surface area in the Sound. Of that leased area, Icicle uses 21 acres for net pens and produces 15 million pounds of fish. With farms in Chile, Icicle produces 20,000 tons of Atlantic salmon, coho salmon and trout, which accounts for 16 percent of their annual revenue. According to their report, building farms in the Sound would save them $89 million a year by not having to fly 200 million pounds of fish product from their farming operations in Chile.
The report also stated that all U.S. imports of farmed salmon from Chile could be replaced with 340 additional acres of net pens in the Sound. Icicle estimates that the expansion that would replace Chilean imports would add roughly $42 million in payroll, $160 million in processing and $68 million for goods and services to Washington State.
The Ballard News-Tribune reached out to Icicle Seafoods, but they did not respond for comment.
However, Edwards did comment on the potential growth of fish farming in the region.
“Millions more horrendous, miserable lives, invisible to the public,” wrote Edwards.
