Question about fish...?

Question

What's the most 'vegetarian' thing about fish and sea animals?

Answer 1

They all need water to grow.

Seriously though, did you see this?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080707/ap_o...

The upcoming edition of the Merriam Webster dictionary has a new word: "Pescatarian."  The definition? A VEGETARIAN WHO EATS FISH!

sheesh.

Answer 2

They only say that because they want to have the title of a vegetarian.

Answer 3

Pescetarianism (or Pesco-vegetarianism) is a semi-vegetarian dietary choice, in which a person — known as a pesco-vegetarian — only eats vegetables, fruit, and fish or other non-mammalian sea food, but will not eat mammals or birds.

There's nothing vegetarian about fish, but it's where some people "draw the line in the sand" about animal suffering, and whether or not they'll eat it.

UPDATE: You folks are a sensitive lot, you are. How you can give Jen 5 thumbs up, and me 3 thumbs down for the same answer is beyond me. I was merely regurgitating the new definition like she was. Animal suffering was a main topic in the book "Animal Grace" by Mary Lou Randour, PhD.

Answer 4

If fish is the only meat you consume then your a pescetarian. not a vegetarian. Fish do have feelings so pescetarians obviously like meat but want to eat a healthful diet and fish is probably the healthiest meat on the face of the earth so....yeah

Answer 5

Haha.  They are animals that is for sure.  It always cracks me up when someone says, 'I am a vegetarian, I only eat fish."  If you eat fish you are not vegetarian...just not a meat eater.

Answer 6

Duh... there are jellyfish... and the last time I checked, jelly was completely vegan.

Pay no attention to the fact that jellyfish aren't fish.

::edit::

Emily, sometimes... not ALL the time... but sometimes, actually reading the question helps.

Answer 7

How many times had this question been asked? I'm sick of it!

For the last time, fish are living, "breathing" animals that infact DO feel pain, just like other animals, and therefore if you eat fish, even if you eat no other meat, YOU ARE NOT VEGETARIAN!!

fish is meat, I've skinned a fish before, they are not PLANTS, beleive me!

(sorry for the gruesome details, but I've seen the insides, thats no chlorophyl...yuck...)

Answer 8

It must be because fish swim near seaweed??  LOL  

I don't know how to answer this to be honest..It baffles me as well.  Ever since I was 10 years old I knew what a vegetarian was.  It's a person that does not eat animals.

Answer 9

Yeah I know, I love fish fresh from the tree.

Answer 10

The only thing I can think of is regarding mollusks. They don't have brains so they don't feel pain nor do they suffer, the same as plant life.

I've often found it confusing that vegetarians who don't eat animal flesh, with pain & suffering as their reasoning, so quickly dismiss mollusks as an option. If you don't quite believe that mollusks don't feel pain even though science has confirmed it, how can you be confident that plants don't either. Neither feels pain, neither has sentience, what is the difference?

If you don't eat certain things because you don't wish to cause pain or suffering and something doesn't suffer nor feel pain and you still won't eat it, by default, that cannot be the reason you aren't willing to eat it. Logic.

Just an oddity that stands out. What other people eat really makes no difference to me. I'm just unsure of the reasoning involved.

Answer 11

Absolutely NOTHING. I think there is nothing about fish that should lead people to consider them vegetables or even remotely vegetarian. Just because they aren't cute and cuddly or terrestrial animals that doesn't mean they don't feel pain or deserve to die. They have the same right to live as a chicken, bunny or even your dog. If people are going to eat fish, that's fine but they shouldn't call themselves vegetarian because that's just erroneous. Fish should also be sustainably caught and ensure that no other sea creatures are harmed.

Their biological classification is Animalia... therefore clearly animals. Not much to dispute really.

Answer 12

people think being a vegetarian and still consuming fish is right because fish are stupid and don't feel pain

i used to be a fish eating vegetarian then one day i became a vegan and well now i don't eat anything from animals

being vegetarian or vegan isn't about being perfect... it's about doing what you can do to stop the pain and cruelty

if you see a vegetarian eating fish don't say anything, they are doing what they can do....

same as if you see an omnivore cutting back on steaks but still eating them.. don't tell them they should give it up altogether, but rather be happy they're minimizing the suffrage as much as possible

EDIT: i'm not being mean or anything, you should rewrite you're question as "Can all fish eating vegetarian clarify to others that they eat fish but most vegetarians don't" or something of that sort.

although it shouldn't really matter, seeing as we give up meat for the animals and not so that other people see what we do. (that's what i think, and can see why others wouldn't agree)

Answer 13

The Catholic Church.

It used to be a rule that Catholics weren't supposed to eat meat on Friday.

But fish was considered okay.

But vegetarianism doesn't have anything to do with Catholic doctrine per se.

Also, some schools of cooking classify meat (red meat), fish and poultry as separate categorys.

But that doesn't have anything to do with vegetarianism either.

Answer 14

Strange yes.

Last time I checked, fish & other seafood are living creatures, with flesh and blood (same as cows, pigs, chickens and sheep). Fish still bleed, they still lie pitifully gasping for air once caught.

If you still eat fish & seafood you are NOT a vegetarian.  

I use to eat a lot of vegetarian food and avoid all meat except fish but I NEVER considered myself and NEVER called myself a vegetarian because I was not one.

I was just someome who happened to like eating a lot of vegetarian style meals - beans, lentils, fruits, vegetables etc...

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