Eating fish

[RogerMcAllen]

I was recently thinking about fish that grow too big to be kept in aquariums and ponds, and how many people still buy such a fish. Is there something morally wrong with taking a fish that is too large for its enclosure, putting it down, and then cooking it for dinner? This is a hypothetical situation so assume the fish is consumable.


*Please note that when I say put down I mean either the cold water method or a quick decapitation with a sharp knife.

[reefrunner69]

[acronym:e6c8aeab7f="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:e6c8aeab7f], there is nothing morally wrong with this. I would find it difficult, but that is simply because of the American values that our pets are members of our family. In other cultures and countries, this question would not even come up.

[ReefRaff]

I didn't vote because I think it would depend on wheather the fish has ever been medicated before or not. Most on the pharmisutical mfg's state "for use with ornimental fish only" besides I only like Walleye, and tuna anyhow.

[1veedo]

I agree with reefrunner69. Anyhow don't people already do this .. corporations probably grow food to sell, or at least farmers - fish farmers. I'm not completely sure but I'd bet on it(if I actually did bet).

[fishfreek]

Purchasing a fish that you know will quickly outgrow your allocated space is [acronym:decc9f68dc="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:decc9f68dc] cruel. It would be like buying a horse and putting it in a small postage stamp size yard.

Buying 'game fish' and housing them in a pond with the intent to make them a meal is different than buying orimental fish and making a meal of them when they are to big.

As kevin said alot of if has to do with what is classified as 'politically correct' within the culture. In america its nothing for someone to have a cow and to have it slaughtered for food yet if you had a horse slaughtered for food you would be more than likly put into jail.

[purplestarfish]

I couldn't do it. For me, that's like taking a dog that is too big and eating it, like they do in Asia. There's no way I could bring myself to consuming something I've raised and nurtured and cared for until it was that size. If it outgrows the pond, I'd build a bigger swimming area for it or sell it via classified ads or something . . . but I shudder at the thought of eating it.

As it is, I can't even eat sea food! It used to be because of the taste/texture, but now it's also because I hold fish in such high esteem. (On top of this I don't even have a reef tank!!!) I'm even trying vegetarianism; I think I could do it as long as I could have one meat meal a year. But eating fish is out of the question, especially since in this hypothetical situation it would be a pet. My morals just wouldn't let me, even if I were starving. (That may be taking it a bit far, but you get the idea . . . )

[SoCal]

Almost every rainbow trout and catfish sold in grocery stores are farm raised, so something that got to big for a pond, I don't think I'd have a problem with especially since the chances of it being a tropical fish are low. As for walking by my tank one day and thinking my Oscar needs a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon...no way.

[e-cat]

theres no way i would eat a fish that came out of any ones tank or pond, if it came out of a farm where the fish where bred too be fed as food then that is different.

[d9hp]

I could do it, and in fact ive done it before. At the lake when we would catch little catfish we would place them in this corral we had made out of wood will little holes drilled in it. It was really big, and we would feed the catfish chicken liver all the time. In about 2 years they were good size to eat, and as long as we kept catching them, there was a good supply.

[Punkymom]

I LOVE sea food...and most freshwater eating fishes too...but for some reason, if I can buy it and keep it as a pet, I can't eat it. If they sold rainbow trout at my [acronym:e79f5b354f="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:e79f5b354f], it would never be on my menu again. Pets and food are in 2 totally different catagories for me.