Vegetarian Divers?

[zeN||]

Saying, that post was pretty pathetic-"no matter what I do, I just can't make myself kill!" (as you are licking up the last morsel of ling on your plate); geeze, homo sapiens, the ultimate predator on the planet, tip-toeing around all this flesh, proclaiming their superiority, because they eat grass and you eat oysters. It must be the Walt Disney effect, veggie divers snapping photos, thinking, "There goes Nemo!" ~Z


in the ocean, everyting eats everyting

(No offence, Saying, here's a plate of dead cow for a peace offering)

 

[Straggler Dave]

suzie q once bubbled...
it just seems so bizarre to be a rec diver (or any diver) and also eat marine life!

I greatly prefer wreck dives to fish ones, and as such I abstain from eating rusted steel.

More seriously, I try not to eat many animal products. And certainly not for PETA-like reasons. I just think veg is far better for you, and tastes better too (provided you can cook). I don't drink milk, but have cheese, egg and meat from time to time....

:goofy:

 

[drbill]

Jeez, lragsac, how long have I known and dived with you? I guess I didn't remember you were a vegetarian since it wasn't an issue... with you or with me!

Dr. Bill

 

[blackice]

Rick Murchison once bubbled...
Human eyes ain't in the front of the skull for grazing.
Rick

But then why are sharks eyes at the side?

 

[Phish-phood]

Regardless of whether you are a good spearfisher or not, spear fishing isn't the problem as typically people will only take what they need or can eat.

Commercial fishing is the biggest thing affecting the marine ecosystems. The following is a link to part of the recent article in Scientific American which talks about the effects of over fishing on the marine food chains and how in turn it affects us.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00017139-DB05-1EDC-8E1C809EC588EF21&pageNumber=1&catID=2

So while I would never spearfish myself I wouldn't dream of looking down on people who do. Same goes for people who hunt as long as they hunt for animals they intend to eat and that are not endangered.

 

[-boltfish]

DrBill

In response to your point about taking life, plants do not have the same nervous structure as animals (they cannot feel pain). When you kill an animal, you are killing a conscious being who will suffer pain (and believe me the way animals are slaughtered does cause pain).

 

[Phish-phood]

Boltfish, that is a fair point - yes the way animals are slaughtered inflicts pain and that is not very nice to think about but as our planet exists in a fine balance, the nature of which requires that animals kill or be killed.

When a shark kills a seal for food, or a lion kills a young zebra those animals feel terrible pain before they die yet no-one complains or says anything about that - natural selection and survival of the fittest. They have to kill to eat.
Humans are an integral part of the ecosystem and the same rules apply, kill or be killed. The problem now is that humans have evolved to a point where they think they are indestructible and if they exhaust one food source another will be there to replace it. They feel the need to assert their dominance over all other creatures on the planet and have not yet realised that they are sealing their own fate. To say that we should not kill animals for food because it is cruel is wrong. To say that we should only kill what is necessary and kill as much as possible and not just because we can is the way should be looking at it.

Out of principle I would not eat something like shark fin soup because they catch the shark, cut off the fin and throw the animal alive back into the water. Now if they were to kill and use all the shark meat I would feel less strongly about this point. However as sharks are increasingly becoming endangered species I am of the theory that there should be strict restrictions on the numbers that can be fished.

 

[TX100]

I agree with Phish-phood

 

[SueMermaid]

(and believe me the way animals are slaughtered does cause pain).

I wasn't gonna get into this discussion because it is such an emotional issue, but as someone who loves animals AND works directly with agricultural production, (namely food animals), I am compelled to ask:
Can you explain to me how you *know* animals suffer pain when they are slaughtered? Have you ever seen one being slaughtered that was not part of a PETA propaganda film? There are VERY strict laws regarding this very subject, which are enforced, and people who raise animals for food are not the monsters they are often made out to be.

While killing anything is not a pleasant subject and I am not making light of the fact that a life is, indeed, being taken, we are a nation that consumes meat, so it is done, and it is done quite humanely, every day. If you think animals are usually or always killed in a cruel manner, you need to do some more research. There is a lot of knee-jerk, emotional animal rights information out there that is simply inaccurate, old, or embellished.

That being said, I have spent my share of time as a vegetarian, more for health reasons than any other, but have always eaten seafood. A life without tuna is simply not worth living.

 

[-boltfish]

Sue & Phish-phood

Yes I have seen slaughter houses, and I have seen the Jewish way of killing pigs (which is quite frankly disgusting).

So what if animals kill one another? We know better than that! What about fighting and murdering one another, as animals often do? Now I am sure you will agree that is morally wrong, but, based on your previous point, if animals do it then it must be okay!

We don't need to kill animals in order to enjoy a balanced and healthy diet. Why should we, as 'superior' beings, kill less intelligent beings just to 'stamp our authority' over them?

You wouldn't like it if someone ate your pet dog / cat, would you?