No Australian law regulates the treatment of fish caught or raised for their flesh, and both commercial fishers and fish factory farms treat these animals in ways that would warrant cruelty-to-animals charges if the victims were dogs or cats. Fish who are ripped from the ocean suffer from rapid decompression, which can cause their swim bladders to rupture, their eyes to pop out of their heads or their stomachs to be forced through their mouths. Then they're tossed onto a ship, where many are crushed to death or slowly suffocate. Others are still alive when they are cut open. On fish factory farms, tens or even hundreds of thousands of fish are confined to cramped, filthy enclosures, and parasitic infections, diseases and debilitating injuries are rampant. Many farmed fish suffer from chronic sea lice, and some have their faces eaten down to the bone by these parasites. Farmers use antibiotics and powerful chemicals to keep the fish alive in such horrendous conditions and to make them grow, but many farmed fish still die before slaughter.

Serving fish is also a health risk to your patrons. None of us would dream of drinking water tainted by sewage, pesticides, heavy metals and other contaminants, yet we'll unthinkingly eat fish who are pulled out of this toxic brew. But fish absorb the chemicals that are in the water – and can pass them on to people who eat their flesh. Food Standards Australia found that 16 per cent of Australian farmed fish tested positive for a fungicide called "malachite green". The Victorian government has issued warnings to reduce consumption of fish and eels caught in Australian rivers because of contaminants.

Please feel free to contact me directly on (phone number provided) or at (email provided). I hope to hear from you soon, and I look forward to letting our members know that you will stop serving fish in the aquarium's café.

Sincerely,

Jason Baker