# Eating live fish **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 30, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063 "2010-01-30T22:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/21 "2010-01-31T12:59:36Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/22 "2010-01-31T13:09:08Z")
Utterly disgusting. I think the worst part is the sound of the people laughing. I feel sick. the chopped up fish is horrid too. Either these people have a mistaken belief that animals don’t feel pain, or they are full-on psychopaths. I’m with Grumman. If you think this is fun, I don’t want you in my life. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/23 "2010-01-31T13:20:07Z")
Eating living anything is not only not kosher, it violates one of the Seven Noachic Laws which may result in a Gentile losing his place in the World-to-Come. It’s not Kosher for Jews OR Gentiles. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/24 "2010-01-31T16:34:29Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > 70;s? it’s still going on at frats across the country. they’re bitter. I, too, was going to note that in certain circles, live mini-carp have been a popular menu item in college towns for quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/25 "2010-02-01T00:15:15Z")
I am a vegetarian but don’t have a problem with those who wish to eat meat doing so. However this sort of stuff is just sick. And just o add to the general ick factor - what is it with wanting to eat beating hearts of animals??? [http://www.blogged.com/stories/curiosities-oddities/beating-heart-of-a-frog-and-other-bizarre](http://www.blogged.com/stories/curiosities-oddities/beating-heart-of-a-frog-and-other-bizarre) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/26 "2010-02-01T00:23:31Z")
In Korea, I had octopus sushi that was so fresh, the chopped-off tentacles were still wriggling. I didn’t actually seek this out; I was with a bunch of co-workers and my boss and didn’t want to lose face. It wasn’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/27 "2010-02-01T00:34:12Z")
I don’t know why people who otherwise eat meat get so het up about this sort of thing. The only significant difference between the suffering of an animal eaten alive and an animal eaten dead is about four minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/28 "2010-02-01T01:05:10Z")
An unnecessary four additional minutes of suffering is what makes it unacceptable. I’d be equally displeased upon being presented with meat that was subjected to prolonged torture prior to death rather than a quick, as-painless-as-possible slaughter. That, by the way, is why I stopped eating veal - I found the conditions under which veal calves to be inherently unacceptable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/29 "2010-02-01T10:30:20Z")
> [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > I don’t know why people who otherwise eat meat get so het up about this sort of thing. The only significant difference between the suffering of an animal eaten alive and an animal eaten dead is about four minutes. Are you talking about the lifelong suffering that is inherent to some methods of farming? Yes, that’s a bad thing, but (rightly or wrongly) a person can be unaware that it happened to the steak on their plate. Doesn’t make the suffering right, but it doesn’t make the diner a cruel monster either. A person _cannot_ be aware of suffering of something that is subjected to a prolonged death _on the plate, at the table_. So to choose meat without caring about its background is potentially grossly irresponsible. To explicitly want to extend its suffering for the purposes of tittilation is bordering on psychopathic. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/30 "2010-02-01T18:29:20Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > My understanding, albeit anecdotally, is that the fish is actually dead. The gasping motions are mostly residual nerve firing, since the cook doesn’t do anything to the head and gill areas of the fish - the dish is made by dunking the bottom of the fish in a deep fryer. > > That being said, I still wouldn’t eat it. It may be dead but it’s still _creepy_. And I’m a pretty adventurous eater by nature. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I saw the one I remember seeing. Looks like they scale it, then dip it in hot oil. I didn’t see the typical gut-cut, but it looks like the innards may gave been removed through the lateral slice at the ‘throat’. > [@Grumman](#): > > That sounds a lot more like _dying_ than dead to me. Yea, [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tGmvjzLb1A) is the video that shows how they prepare it. Johnny is right about the preperation… The fact that the spine is not severed leads me to clearly believe that this fish is still alive… That isn’t “residual nerve firing” that is clearly a living fish with intact neurological and pain synapse. Sure, it might meet certain criteria for technical anatomical death- but not all of them… and especially not for fish physiology. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/31 "2010-02-01T18:30:21Z")
I’ve had live scallops. They are a treat. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/32 "2010-02-01T18:45:13Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Yea, [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tGmvjzLb1A) is the video that shows how they prepare it. Johnny is right about the preperation… > The fact that the spine is not severed leads me to clearly believe that this fish is still alive… That isn’t “residual nerve firing” that is clearly a living fish with intact neurological and pain synapse. Sure, it might meet certain criteria for technical anatomical death- but not all of them… and especially not for fish physiology. How do you think the other fish you eat die? They suffocate. It is not quick. I’ve caugh game fish that flopped for what seemed like a good ten, maybe fifteen minutes. This is after an exhausting fight in the water. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/33 "2010-02-01T18:47:12Z")
Yar, I can’t imagine the taste of something alive is SO much better than it’s being dead that it’d be worth it. Or that the TASTE of anything would be worth extra suffering, either, so…yar. No thankees. That’s not art; that’s torture. ETA: I haven’t fished in 20 years, but when I did, I killed the fish promptly rather than wait for it to suffocate. I mean, why not? What’s the point of letting it flop around? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/34 "2010-02-01T18:47:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Sorry - I draw the line at food that’s still breathing/moving. Raw fish sashimi/sushi, sure, _live_ food - nuh-uh. Oysters are out then? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/35 "2010-02-01T18:48:47Z")
I’ll take squirming fish over [cheese with live maggots](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu) any day. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/36 "2010-02-01T19:05:24Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > How do you think the other fish you eat die? They suffocate. It is not quick. I’ve caugh game fish that flopped for what seemed like a good ten, maybe fifteen minutes. This is after an exhausting fight in the water. Better to drown, than to be disembowled and suspended in boiling oil from the chest down, only to be conscious as someone enjoys my cracklins. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/37 "2010-02-01T19:26:02Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Better to drown, than to be disembowled and suspended in boiling oil from the chest down, only to be conscious as someone enjoys my cracklins. we are probably talking about two different types of consciousness ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/38 "2010-02-01T19:42:16Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > we are probably talking about two different types of consciousness Perhaps… but who am I or you, for that matter, to know or speculate? But the method and intent of death that I point out are the same. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/39 "2010-02-01T20:06:04Z")
I draw the line at my food moving. I’ve been served freshly killed eel that was still squirming and that creeped me out. It didn’t have a head so it wasn’t a cruelty issue but I still had to wait for it to quit dying before I could partake. I could probably eat something that was technically alive as long as it wasn’t moving the oysters listed above would be a perfect example. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/40 "2010-02-01T20:35:51Z")
I love sushi. I have killed and cleaned fish. I have worked extensively in the aquarium trade and have euthanized, over the years, a good number of fish that were to sick or too inexpensive to be worth medicating. So I’m no bleedingheart PETAhead. But these video clips are horrifying. Put me off sushi for a while. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063.md?page=3)