To the editor: Entanglement in crab fishing gear is likely one of the greatest threats to whales — extremely smart, complicated, majestic animals. (“New fishing gear means California can have its crab without killing whales,” letters, Feb. 13)
However there’s one other sufferer of economic fishing — crabs.
Identical to our companion canines and cats, crabs reside, feeling animals. They’re emotionally complicated beings who work collectively to collect meals and for mutual safety. And so they endure the identical bodily ache all of us do.
Simply think about your legs being ripped off your physique or being boiled alive. It could be inconvenient to acknowledge that crabs are sentient, exceptional animals, however we now know they’re, and we should have a look at them with recent eyes.
The world not has a thriving “lamp lighter” trade. Switchboard operators are a factor of the previous as properly. These endings weren’t a tragedy, however relatively a optimistic signal of social progress.
It’s time for the industrial crab fishing trade to go. The survival of whales depends upon our compassion, and the economic system might be simply superb if we go away crabs alone.
Scott Miller, Norfolk, Va.
The author is a analysis specialist for fishing and waterways on the PETA Basis.
