Hannah Orloff - Article on Whether Aquariums Are Ethical

 An article posted by the Animal Welfare Institute discusses the question, "Are Aquariums Ethical?, which is an interesting conversation that oftentimes has various answers depending on who is asked. Aquariums can refer to a facility that displays tropical fish or a small freshwater fish living in a bowl on the counter. In this article, the emphasis is on the pet trade industry, however both types of aquariums have their fair share of similar flaws. To start, most fish are not housed in proper enclosures with enough space to move around and survive in. The fact that fish can be kept in small plastic bowls that are less than a gallon in size is fascinating because from an animal welfare standpoint if you kept a dog in a crate its entire life it would be considered animal cruelty, but people view fish differently. Because fish aren't mammals or even terrestrial beings, they are often perceived as unintelligent and unable to process or feel pain, which is undeniably true. In the grand scheme of evolutionary time, fish have been on this planet for millions of years before even the first terrestrial beings, and so many fish are extremely evolutionarily advanced with elite nervous and sensory systems. The article discussed a research project completed back in 2015 that found fish as having a more complex and possibly even better sensory system than terrestrial mammals, which removes the question of whether they can feel pain. However, fish do not look like people and are closer to the spectrum of "gross" to people, so their rights as creatures are often overlooked. In the pet trade, roughly 95% of all freshwater fish that make their way through the system are breed in captivity with 95% to 99% of all saltwater fish having been captured in the wild before entering. For the wild caught varieties, their natural habitats are often destroyed in order to capture them, and then the aquariums they are placed into do not replicate that environment whatsoever. The captive bred varieties are often killed during transportation and lived short lives if they do not make it off the shelves. The pet keeping industry for fish is not a sound system, and many of the common species of pet fish are not protected by wildlife laws which exposes them to whatever conditions their handlers provide them. Aquariums can be safe for fish as long as the caretaker understands how to provide the right environment for their fish, which often takes not purchasing the recommended products at pet store. In addition, it should be considered to not support companies that promote the mistreatment of pet fish so that the industry doesn't continue to thrive. All in all, it is unethical in the way the mistreatment of fish is normalized, but keeping fish in the correct controlled habitat can ensure them a good life. 

Source: https://awionline.org/awi-quarterly/2015-fall/ethical-and-ecological-implications-keeping-fish-captivity 

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