# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/41 "2010-02-01T20:44:12Z")
Though she never served live fish, my grandmother had a good way of getting around the “cruel and sadistic” part. My grandfather would come home from fishing, and throw a big live fish into the already-full bath tub. When My grandmother was ready to cook it, she poured some schnapps down its throat, so it’s death wouldn’t be so painful. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/42 "2010-02-01T20:46:47Z")
Sick shit. The still-moving pieces of snake was fucked up, even though the snake was obviously not conscious anymore because its head was cut off. The live fish, half fried, was really disgusting. ---
**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, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/43 "2010-02-01T20:55:58Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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. This is a completely arbitrary line to draw. How are the four additional minutes of suffering any more “unnecessary” than _any_ fish killed, when humans living in the developed world are perfectly able to never eat animals if they so choose? If fish have a level of consciousness such that it even _means_ anything for them to be ‘tortured’ for four minutes, isn’t it immoral to eat them at all? > [@Mangetout](#): > > 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. I’m not totally sure what you’re arguing, but if you’re saying that live-fish-eaters are inherently crueler than dead-fish-eaters because of the dramatic nature of the act, I can’t necessarily agree. That just boils down to a banality of evil vs. flamboyant evil type of thing that I’m certain hasn’t been resolved. ---
**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, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/44 "2010-02-01T21:17:07Z")
[Gagh is best when eaten live.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klingon_cuisine#Cuisine) ---
**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, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/45 "2010-02-01T21:19:23Z")
Boy, it’s a good thing there was no PETA back in the [goldfish-swallowing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfish_swallowing) days! ---
**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, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/46 "2010-02-01T21:41:05Z")
> [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > I’m not totally sure what you’re arguing, but if you’re saying that live-fish-eaters are inherently crueler than dead-fish-eaters because of the dramatic nature of the act, I can’t necessarily agree. That just boils down to a banality of evil vs. flamboyant evil type of thing that I’m certain hasn’t been resolved. Probably didn’t help that I meant to say "cannot be UNaware’, but said ‘cannot be aware’ Purposefully causing harm just because you enjoy the experience of harming things is worse, to my mind, than accidentally, ignorantly or negligently causing harm. I’m pretty sure I’m not unique in thinking this, as it’s reflected in many laws and ingrained in us in various social/cultural/religious customs. It’s only unresolved if you decide that there’s no way to make meaningful comparison. ---
**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, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/47 "2010-02-01T21:42:05Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > How do you think the other fish you eat die? They suffocate. It is not quick. The fish I catch myself die after a quick stroke of a knife or cleaver removes their head. What kind of a sadist lets an animal slowly suffocate when there is a much quicker way to end their suffering? Fish caught commercially… hmm, you have just given me food for thought… Off to do some research. ---
**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, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/48 "2010-02-01T21:49:05Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Oysters are out then? Quite. {{{{shudder}}}} > [@Lama\_Pacos](#): > > This is a completely arbitrary line to draw. How are the four additional minutes of suffering any more “unnecessary” than _any_ fish killed, when humans living in the developed world are perfectly able to never eat animals if they so choose? If fish have a level of consciousness such that it even _means_ anything for them to be ‘tortured’ for four minutes, isn’t it immoral to eat them at all? As I am allergic to nearly all legumes as well as several other plant based foods it would, in fact, be risking serious protein deficiency for me to attempt to subsist without animal flesh or animal products. A vegetarian diet _for me_ would be extremely limited and unhealthy. So, in fact, I _do_ view it as necessary for me to eat meat even if I don’t eat it every day. I don’t view it as immoral for me to eat a diet that sustains my health. I do regard it as immoral to condone or even encourage unnecessary suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/49 "2010-02-01T22:24:11Z")
Quoth **devilsknew** : > [@](#): > > Is Octopus and Squid Kosher…? The Kosher species rules for seafood are very simple: If it lives in the water and has fins and scales, it’s Kosher. If it lives in the water and doesn’t have fins and scales, it’s not. Even for a Kosher species, and even if it’s not served still alive (which is, as **FriarTed** points out, against the Noachide law that all humans are expected to follow), Kosher meat also requires that the animal be slaughtered in a humane way, and often specifies a specific method which must be used (basically, the most humane method known at the time the laws were written). Interestingly, while a giraffe is considered a “clean” animal, and therefore should in theory have Kosher meat, the laws know of no acceptable means of slaughtering one (it’s not possible to figure out where you’re supposed to cut its throat), so there isn’t any Kosher giraffe meat in practice. ---
**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, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/50 "2010-02-01T22:33:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The fish I catch myself die after a quick stroke of a knife or cleaver removes their head. What kind of a sadist lets an animal slowly suffocate when there is a much quicker way to end their suffering? > > Fish caught commercially… hmm, you have just given me food for thought… > > Off to do some research. The last time I went fishing we caught 6 dolphin (dorado/mahi mahi, not Flipper) and two black marlin. We tagged the marlin but put the dolphin in the well, where they expired. It would have taken some cleaver to remove the head of a 3 foot long, 50lb bull and some skill to do it on a rocking boat without hurting yourself. You think they walking around slitting the throats of commercialy caught bluefin. My guess is they dump them all, live, in a big well in the hull. ---
**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 2, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063/51 "2010-02-02T00:58:38Z")
I seem to recall that commercial catch is frozen quickly - death by freezing is usually considered relatively painless (people rescued from near-death by freezing usually confirm this) so I’d be OK with that. And I understand what you mean about the big fish and a cleaver being problematic, but I’ve never cause a fish that big. If you really don’t have the means for a quick dispatch, well, you don’t, but for the size of fish I’ve caught that’s not an issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eating-live-fish/527063.md?page=2)