This Video Shows Hundreds of Fish Out of Water and Suffocating

Anywhere between 37 and 120 billion fish are killed on commercial farms each year, with another 2.7 trillion caught and killed in the wild. On factory farms, fish have almost no protections. Video from the first large-scale investigation of intensive fish farming in Europe shows fish thoughtlessly scooped out of nets and thrown into plastic containers, where slowly asphyxiate. Some of them miss the bin and flap to death on the floor.

Warning: This video is disturbing. Some fish survive out of water for hours covered in ice on their way to the slaughterhouse. If they’re still breathing, they die by blow to the head. The video documents other inhumane practices, like slaughterhouse workers squeezing out the fish roe by hand. This causes the animal even more stress, as if the whole suffocation part wasn’t enough.

While fish are often left out of the animal welfare debate, investigations like this can help change that.

1. ✅ 7 in 10 Americans agree that the factory farming of animals is one of the most important issues out there today. We talked to Vox about the animals on the ballot this November. Read up and go vote! [Vox]
2. 👉 More often than not, the worst animal abuses happen on large-scale, industrial farms. It doesn’t have to be this way. In his new book, Jacy Reese talks about how the introduction of cell-based meat could disrupt the global meat market while saving the lives of millions of animals. [NowThis]
3. 😳 If polar bear habitats continue to lose sea ice and warming continues at current rates, we’ll have no way of protecting their sources of food. Currently, polar bears are eating dead whales to stay alive. “In most regions, the environmental changes are too large and the whale carcasses are too few.” [EurekAlert!]
4. 🐟 Some invasive species are welcome here. The sea lamprey kills native fish and is a menace to most underwater populations. But on Lake Superior, invasive smelt tell a very different story. [FiveThirtyEight]
5. ☠️ Sea Shepherd, the infamous whale protectors who made a name for themselves by sinking two commercial whaling vessels, plan to hoist the Jolly Roger again this fall. [LIVEKINDLY]