Cape Town – The National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) is investigating severe cruelty to fish at a fish farm in the Eastern Cape.
It said its officials did an on-site inspection and rescue when it found fish in putrid and inhumane living conditions at an aquaculture fish farm in the Karoo.
According to the NSPCA, the same fish farm was inspected earlier this year.
It said upon inspection it appeared that the farm has been abandoned, with no one but security guards on the premises.
“Further investigation by the NSPCA revealed live fish eating one another as they had not been fed and maggots eating and burrowing into the rotting flesh of the fish that had already died.
“The dried-up carcasses and skeletal remains of other fish were also found scattered across the floors of the farm. The number of surviving fish remains undetermined as the tanks are too filthy to clearly see how many fish there are.
“The NSPCA now has to work through several large tunnel houses filled with fish tanks to rescue a large number of fish suffering as a result of severe animal cruelty.
“Although the aquaculture sector markets itself as a remedy for the condition of our overfished oceans, there is a significant catch: Aquaculture facilities, just like the one the NSPCA is currently investigating, subject millions of farmed fish to conditions where rampant cruelty is revealed,” the NSPCA said.
It said had an inspection not been conducted and urgent intervention implemented, all the fish at the facility would have faced a slow and torturous death.
The NSPCA said action would be taken for the cruelty and abuse the fish were subjected to as its investigation unfolded.
“The plight of fish often goes unseen and unheard, because they are barely recognised as the sentient beings that they are.
“Instead, they are seen as products, grown for the sole purpose of becoming food.
“The NSPCA fully recognises the critical role that aquatic animals play in society and in the ecosystem, they are sentient beings with intrinsic worth and they should be treated that way,” the organisation said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL