I agree this is a central question from an animal welfare perspective, and also a very tricky one.
As far as I know, there’s no direct research comparing the subjective experience of death by fishing versus natural causes like predation, starvation, and disease in sardines or anchovies. So we’re left making our best-educated guess, based on what we know about the mechanisms and likely duration of each kind of death. Being chased, caught and then dissolved in a predator’s stomach, or slowly dying from starvation or disease, is almost certainly prolonged and stressful. Purse seine fishing, by contrast, seems to involve a much shorter timeframe. While it’s obviously still bad, my current best guess is that it may involve less total suffering than most natural deaths in the wild.
That said, I’d love to see more research on this and am very open to revising that view.
Another relevant point from an animal welfare perspective is that choosing sardines and anchovies over foods that have a bigger environmental footprint helps preserve biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, which are crucial for the long-term flourishing of both wild animals and humanity.
After receiving feedback on the duration of the purse seine process, we’ve revised some of our earlier assumptions and updated the post accordingly. In light of that, we now think it’s more accurate to say that we simply don’t know whether death by purse seine fishing involves more or less suffering than typical natural deaths. The mechanisms differ, but without direct evidence comparing subjective experiences, it’s hard to draw strong conclusions either way.
Given that, I’d suggest that the indirect effects of food choices, particularly those related to land use, biodiversity loss, and climate change, may be more decisive from an animal welfare perspective. These broader impacts affect not only current individuals but also the long-term well-being and survival of many wild animals and ecosystems. So even if we can’t confidently compare direct suffering in one death scenario vs. another, reducing demand for foods that minimise land use change, such as sardines and anchovies, seems to be the preferable choice overall.
Clearly, though, there’s a need for more research.
I agree this is a central question from an animal welfare perspective, and also a very tricky one.
As far as I know, there’s no direct research comparing the subjective experience of death by fishing versus natural causes like predation, starvation, and disease in sardines or anchovies. So we’re left making our best-educated guess, based on what we know about the mechanisms and likely duration of each kind of death. Being chased, caught and then dissolved in a predator’s stomach, or slowly dying from starvation or disease, is almost certainly prolonged and stressful. Purse seine fishing, by contrast, seems to involve a much shorter timeframe. While it’s obviously still bad, my current best guess is that it may involve less total suffering than most natural deaths in the wild.
That said, I’d love to see more research on this and am very open to revising that view.
Another relevant point from an animal welfare perspective is that choosing sardines and anchovies over foods that have a bigger environmental footprint helps preserve biodiversity and ecosystem resilience, which are crucial for the long-term flourishing of both wild animals and humanity.
After receiving feedback on the duration of the purse seine process, we’ve revised some of our earlier assumptions and updated the post accordingly. In light of that, we now think it’s more accurate to say that we simply don’t know whether death by purse seine fishing involves more or less suffering than typical natural deaths. The mechanisms differ, but without direct evidence comparing subjective experiences, it’s hard to draw strong conclusions either way.
Given that, I’d suggest that the indirect effects of food choices, particularly those related to land use, biodiversity loss, and climate change, may be more decisive from an animal welfare perspective. These broader impacts affect not only current individuals but also the long-term well-being and survival of many wild animals and ecosystems. So even if we can’t confidently compare direct suffering in one death scenario vs. another, reducing demand for foods that minimise land use change, such as sardines and anchovies, seems to be the preferable choice overall.
Clearly, though, there’s a need for more research.