# Can You Eat Fish?



## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

After I got my fish betta, I found it hard to eat fish. I was partially grossed out because seeing her out of water is GROSS, and partially heartbroken because I now know that fish are intelligent and each have their own personallities. I still have to eat fish because I have a very restrictive diet (no meat is part of it) and if I don't I feel fatigued and weak from lack of protein.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

I went through 4 years of college studying fish and have been keeping fish for 7 years. Fish are my life. It's never bothered me to eat fish. Part of what I studied in college is where our foodfish comes from. The harvesting practices of many wild foodfish turn me off of fish way more than keeping fish ever did; some of the methods used to harvest fish are indiscriminate killers and destroy everything they come in contact with. Instead of giving up fish, I only eat sustainably harvested or grown fish or fish that I catch myself. 

You have to understand that the conditions we keep fish in are very different from the conditions in which they live in the wild. While our tanks can have as much as 20 ppm nitrate, the native waters typically have so little nitrate that it is hardly testable with even professional kits. The water there is so much cleaner than that in our tanks.


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## DazedBetta (Jun 27, 2011)

Yeah I can still eat fish but ive heard of some really bad stories on how they harvest the fish.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

i can't eat fish. but not because of my bettas. 8U it makes me sick to my stomach when i eat any kind of fish or seafood, so.... :B


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

I wasn't a big fish eater before but now I can't eat it


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I eat fish. It's a fish eat fish world! 
I just have a thing about eating Atlantic fish. >.< Pacific is bad enough but how much can you limit yourself?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I love fishing, cleaning and cooking fish. Nothing is better than a fresh caught trout cooked within hours of being in the river IMO. It's not unusual for people to tend to stray away from eating things they love lol. People who love bunnies don't eat bunny, people who love birds don't eat birds, etc etc. I've got a few friends like that but I guess I have a definite line between pet and food, although food can become a pet lol. I've kept sunfish, large mouth bass and catfish as pets before


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

No! And not only because I keep fish; but because my parents have forced me to eat it before and it tasted DISGUSTING. Also my old house had a Cory with bass in it, and I've seen WAYYY too many bass get their heads cut off  :shock:


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I didn't like fish when I was young. But as I got older I started to really like it. I don't think parents should force their kids to eat something if they really don't like it. My mom tried that once and my dad got on her and told her to quit it. I'm sorry they did that to you. I know the feeling.


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

The first time i ate a fish sandwich from fast food place after getting Swish, i felt kinda weird, but then i realized that it wasn't like i was having fried bettas, or even any of the other fish i now keep. Not sure how i'd feel eating other animals related to my pets, though i'd probably get used to it/over it.

i will say i really don't know anything about the practice of fish being harvested though.


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## MollyJean (Dec 29, 2009)

Er... I love Sushi.. >.>

It's never really bothered me. I feed my fish life food, bugs, shrimp, they love it. My cats eat rodents, yum. It's part of the cycle of life. So it doesn't bother me so much.

That and I have a very strong stomach. Not much grosses me out. If it did I wouldn't have so many pets!


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

MollyJean said:


> Er... I love Sushi.. >.>
> 
> That and I have a very strong stomach. Not much grosses me out. If it did I wouldn't have so many pets!


me too!!!


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## ZackyBear (Dec 1, 2011)

I can eat shrimp, but with fish? it depends....

If someone else frys, cuts up, and sticks in my favorite veggie mix I'll eat fish. (Tastes very good with spicy zest and cheeeeeese)

But I can't eat fish if I make it myself. I don't know why...O-o


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## xShainax (Feb 11, 2012)

Ok. I LOVE blackened catfish


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I'm very sensitive if I get one of those fish bones in my mouth- it spoils the whole meal for me and I can't eat it anymore. The mental torture knowing that there's probably more bones in there. O___O
That's the worst part of fish.  Otherwise I'm fine.


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## Purple (Jun 25, 2012)

The thing is, every betta I've ever met has different personalities. You can't tell me that a catfish or salmon doesn't have a personality. I just wonder, "Is this fish energetic and playful like Sally or quiet and reserved like Donald?"


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## betta lover1507 (Aug 6, 2011)

i still eat fish... no problem


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

lvandert said:


> I didn't like fish when I was young. But as I got older I started to really like it. I don't think parents should force their kids to eat something if they really don't like it. My mom tried that once and my dad got on her and told her to quit it. I'm sorry they did that to you. I know the feeling.


I agree. I have to eat everything they make, so gross.  if I'm lucky I can convince my mom to make my food special (for example stuffed shells- pasta stuff- I hate cottage cheese in mine and she will leave mine without)
But when it comes to meat items there's no way of getting out of eating it for me.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Kinda gross but my parents forced me to eat beans against my will when I was little and I threw up on my mom.
They don't force me into eating foods anymore.
(btw, I love green beans but kidney beans I can't do).


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

Olympia said:


> Kinda gross but my parents forced me to eat beans against my will when I was little and I threw up on my mom.
> They don't force me into eating foods anymore.
> (btw, I love green beans but kidney beans I can't do).


xD I ate yams and threw up. I remember hiding peas in my milk when I was little so I wouldn't have to eat them.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## littlegreen (Mar 11, 2012)

I'm a vegetarian and have been most of my life (and no, vegetarians don't eat fish. Pesceatarians (I can't spell it! >w< oops!) eat fish.) So...no I don't! : ) But it has nothing to do with keeping them as pets.


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## Twilight Storm (Apr 14, 2011)

I'm a meat-a-tarian so yeah I eat some fish. I stick to white type fish like catfish, and cod and polliak(?). I'm not a big fan of fishy tasting fish like salmon. I tried orange roughy once.. I didn't like it because it had a fishy taste, then I learned about them and cried.

Because of that I only eat those three fish. I however adore crayfish, lobster, crab, and shrimp. YUM!!!! My bettas agree with me on shrimp being tasty too, they eat them within a few days of me putting any in their tanks.... They just like them raw, rather then cooked in sauce. 

My owning fish hasn't changed my eating habits. (no offense to vegetarians and whatnot, i've just always been a picky eater. I found some of it is because of allergies to odd groups of vegetables and plants.)


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## Rosso1011 (Nov 13, 2011)

Personally I love the taste of fish. Salmon is also very healthy and I know how to cook it, too! I would also miss the taste of sushi too much. Salmon and tuna sushi is just so yummy! I used to be an avid vegetarian but I think the best I can do now is pescatarian. I don't want to give up fish again.


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## Irishdancer (Apr 5, 2011)

I stopped eating fish long before I got my first betta because I don't like the way fish tastes. My family still eats fish when I'm around sometimes, and it bothers me a little bit, but I don't really see salmon or tuna at the same level as betta fish. After all, my bettas' food has seafood in it so they basically eat fish,too.


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## dorabaker (Jul 3, 2010)

I can't stand the smell and taste of fish. I've never liked fish much anyway, except for smoked fish, but since I've been keeping them as pets I can't help thinking of them as living things and not something you should eat.
I'm a vegetarian now due to stomach problems so I can't eat fish anyway.


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## Fabian (Dec 16, 2011)

I've been keeping fish sence i was 4 years old and i still enjoy eating fish.:-D


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

I remember when I kept mosquito fish and one made its way out of the tank somehow. It dried up and looks EXACTLY like those dried anchovies u can get at an asian store. Still could eat anchovy >.>.


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

Lol i have horses, chickens and fish and i eat all three.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

GunsABlazin said:


> Lol i have horses, chickens and fish and i eat all three.


Horses?? :shock: ... I thought that was illegal..


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## GunsABlazin (Jun 1, 2011)

Nope. Its perfectly legal to slaughter and eat horse. Its only illigal to slaughter and sell it. You can use it in your own house hold but not for profit.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I could never name something and then eat it. But if we stay on a business like relationship then yes it's fine.
xD


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

I friggin LOOOOVVVEEE bacon! But then after I eat it I think "wow. A pig died for me to eat that" and then i feel bad xD
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## staffylover (Jun 10, 2012)

I cant stand fish, my dad used to go sea fishing a lot and then bring them home and fillet them in the kitchen - turned my stomach
I now cannot stand the smell around harbours when the boats come in either


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Olympia said:


> I could never name something and then eat it. But if we stay on a business like relationship then yes it's fine.
> xD


I actually remember the professor for my aquaculture class specifically saying "don't get attached to these fish because you will be slaughtering them." Ever since that day I have basically compartmentalized my mind when dealing with fish. I have my pet fish, my work fish, and my food fish. I don't get attached to the fish I work with or handle at work. Not naming them is a great way to do that.


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## copperarabian (Apr 27, 2011)

I love eating fish, I eat sushi, love salmon, trout, ahi tuna, and opah when it's available. Opah is awesome because it has less mercury then most predator fish.


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## Litlover11 (Aug 1, 2011)

For me, it depends. I don't like some fish due to the bones, but if a fillet of fish is placed in front of me, usually I will like it. However, ever since I came to Japan, I have been a little squeamish about fish. Not only do they buy the fish whole here, but they often serve it whole as well. Sorry, but I don't like to eat anything that can stare at me!


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