Fish: Friends or Food?

Fish are supposed to swim in the water, the place they are born and the paradise they belong. However, when a fish is put on the plate, it seems like the judgment day has come. Every time we see the fish on the plate, it is a dish for us, not a life. We are getting used to treating fish as food. We forget that thousands of years ago, fish lived together with our ancestors on this planet, peacefully and harmoniously. But when our ancestors learned to hunt, fish had descended from an equal species to a lower species in the food chain. Is it a natural law or the greedy of humans?

When the fish is struggling on the plate, I have an illusion that the fish is crying. The candle nearby shows its death in the near future. It is like a man is standing on the gallows, with a rope around his neck. He can do nothing to escape from his death, nor could he choose the time and method that could ease his pain. He has to stand there, waiting for the death coming at any minute. For me, the fish has this miserable feeling.

Do we have the right to claim other species’ lives? People take other species as food because humans are standing on the top of the food chain now. Sharks, crocodiles, elephants, serpents are all humans’ food or hunting targets. Humans’ wisdom enables them to take control of other species’ lives, but shouldn’t they shoulder the same responsibility to protect other species? If wisdom is not accompanied with ethics, that will be very dangerous. We are killers in the world and many species go extinct because of us. Many people take this killing behavior for granted due to the jungle rule. Maybe one day when humans are put on the plate, as shown in the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, they will understand how cruel they are. Lives on this planet are equal. A higher level of evolution doesn’t only mean more power, but also more responsibilities.