Large Fish Species Tortured In Asian Restaurants
By Jason Heller, April 21, 2009 @ 01:00 AM (EST)
Source: Taipei Times
The waiter serves up a generous helping of hyperbole with his sales patter as he points to a giant garoupa gawping out of the glass of a neon-lit fish tank on the pavement outside a seafront restaurant in Hong Kong.
“This is a very special fish. It is more than 100 years old,” he says,
gesturing to the fish struggling to turn its 1m-long body in the
confines of the tank.
“If you want to eat it, it will cost you around HK$500,000 [US$64,500]. You will need a very big party,” he said.
For months now, this magnificent creature has been on show to
passers-by, working its way onto hundreds of snapshots as it tries to
circle in the tank that suddenly became its home after decades cruising
the inky, limitless depths of the Indian Ocean.
Capture brought no quick death for this and dozens of other large exotic fish crammed into tanks lining the pavement in seafood restaurants across Hong Kong and Asia.
The taste among Asian diners for exotic fish appears defiantly recession-proof. Falling fish stocks and rising prices have if anything, it seems, sharpened people’s appetite for luxury seafood.
However, the increasingly popular practice of enticing customers to restaurants with the display of huge fish in small tanks is troubling animal welfare experts...
“If you want to eat it, it will cost you around HK$500,000 [US$64,500]. You will need a very big party,” he said.
For months now, this magnificent creature has been on show to
passers-by, working its way onto hundreds of snapshots as it tries to
circle in the tank that suddenly became its home after decades cruising
the inky, limitless depths of the Indian Ocean.Capture brought no quick death for this and dozens of other large exotic fish crammed into tanks lining the pavement in seafood restaurants across Hong Kong and Asia.
The taste among Asian diners for exotic fish appears defiantly recession-proof. Falling fish stocks and rising prices have if anything, it seems, sharpened people’s appetite for luxury seafood.
However, the increasingly popular practice of enticing customers to restaurants with the display of huge fish in small tanks is troubling animal welfare experts...
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