Tag: Animal sentience

Around 840 billion to 2.5 trillion fish are caught or farmed each year, significantly more than the combined total of land animals slaughtered globally. The question, **is eating fish less cruel than meat**, prompts a difficult ethical and environmental comparison beyond mere perception.

According to the philosophy of veganism, the core principle is to avoid inflicting harm on sentient beings as far as possible and practicable. This raises a profound and often-misunderstood question: which sensations are vegan? The answer lies not in the feelings themselves, but in whether their origin involves the exploitation of animals.

While vegetarianism fundamentally excludes all animal flesh, a significant portion of self-identified vegetarians admit to eating fish, creating a profound ethical paradox. This phenomenon prompts the critical question: Is it ethical for vegetarians to eat fish?

According to the Vegetarian Society, a vegetarian diet explicitly excludes all animal flesh, including fish. This foundational principle is the primary reason **why vegetarians don't consider fish meat**, with the decision being informed by ethical, environmental, and nutritional factors beyond a simple classification.