Quote:
Originally posted by Lady Sidhe
Besides, animal society is not our society. We can't apply our rules of conduct to them, any more than their rules of conduct can be applied to us.
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True in one sense, but misleading. We can't apply our rules of conduct to them, but our rules of conduct TOWARDS them are necessarily different than those governing our actions towards one another.
A salmon goes to spawn. It will die once it makes the trip. It might be eaten by a bear. It might get landlocked. I might catch it. It's going to die, period. By inserting my presence into the salmon's world via fishing, I haven't changed reality for the fish. I haven't caused it any pain that it was not already destined to endure. Plus, my family gets yummy salmon.
If there is any ethical consideration to be made, it is to quickly harvest the fish to minimize unnecessary stress and pain for the animal. Why does the fish have to die? Because I caught it. A smarter fish got away though. The cycle will go on, and the species will evolve.