How to Make People Care about Fishes

Photo: Paco Joss

We know that fish are sentient beings and that they are one of the most exploited animals. We know that fish play an important role in nutrient cycles in marine ecosystems and that humans are putting fish stocks at risk of disappearing completely. We have an urgent responsibility to protect fish, so how can we get people to care?

This post is not about how we can directly get people to change their actions but how we can change their perspectives. After all, an individual must first change their perspective about something before they change their actions. 

Here, we are talking about respecting and protecting fish. Many people still believe that fish do not feel pain or emotions and it is by no means a straightforward task to change those opinions.

What are we aiming for?

Fish deserve the same respect that we give other animals. What we are aiming to achieve for fish is the universal understanding that fish are sentient beings and that they should be given the essential Five Freedoms, which are:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst

2. Freedom from discomfort

3. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease

4. Freedom to express normal and natural behaviour

5. Freedom from fear and distress

Fish are generally denied these fundamental needs when they are taken from their natural habitat and interfered with by humans. Only fairly recently science has proven that fish are sentient individuals capable of suffering and feeling pain and fear, along with so many other amazing abilities such as building complex social relationships, playing, using tools, being self aware and remembering things from the past. It is difficult for people to accept this as they do not want to think twice about catching and eating them, keeping them in captivity, and testing on them.

As animal advocates, we may sometimes feel desperate to change people’s beliefs, and because of that desperation, we might attempt that in the wrong way, running the risk of pushing people further away. Using a scientific and emotional approach together, we have a good chance of gradually changing people’s opinions about fish. 

So how can we be effective fish advocates?

Education

Educate yourself, and then educate others. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, why should anyone listen to you? 

When advocating for animals, some people are cautious about sharing their opinions as they may come across as an attack on someone. There is a big difference between sharing opinions and sharing knowledge. People are much more likely to listen to you when you use science and evidence, facts and figures to back up your arguments than when you claim something is right just because it is your opinion. Expand your knowledge about fish by doing your own research and attending educational conferences and meetings.

It is important that we do not just display the dark side of what is happening to fish, but to also show the complex lives of fish, their intelligence and emotional capacity. If we show people that fish are sentient just like dogs or the other animals we interact with more, the chance of people showing more empathy towards fish grows.

Use social media to communicate with friends, family and the public. Sharing others’ content and posting your own content is a great way to spread information and start conversations.

Emotion and communication

How we communicate with people may be just as important as the information we are communicating to them. Why? Because making things clear to understand, using expression and building an emotional connection with someone makes whatever you are telling them more valuable. 

Don’t rebuke individuals for their actions or harass them to change their actions (for example criticising someone for eating fish or pressuring them to stop eating fish). Without identifying with someone or providing any reasoning, getting across a message is not easy. Instead, if you explain to someone that you used to eat fish and share with them the reasons why you stopped, they are more likely to be open to listening. 

“I also used to eat fish but I decided to stop because at least 1 trillion fish are killed every year for human consumption and I wanted to stop contributing to overfishing and fish farming. Overfishing can cause the collapse of ecosystems and leads to an imbalance in the food web and the loss of other important marine life such as corals and turtles. In farm environments, fish suffer from injury, disease and stress, and the waste and chemicals from those farms ends up in the ocean.”

If we build a wall between ourselves and others, we are not working together. Let’s communicate and teach one another, empathise with one another, and bring about change through respect. An individual must have their own reasons to change, and you can only provide guidance.

Let’s change their perceptions. Their actions will follow.