Eating live seafood

Girl eating oysters, circa 1658 by Jan Steen

The practice of eating live seafood, such as fish, crab, oysters, baby shrimp, or baby octopus, is widespread. Oysters are typically eaten live.[1] The view that oysters are acceptable to eat, even by strict ethical criteria, has notably been propounded in the seminal 1975 text Animal Liberation, by philosopher Peter Singer. However, subsequent editions have reversed this position (advocating against eating oysters). Singer has stated that he has "gone back and forth on this over the years", and as of 2010 states that "while you could give them the benefit of the doubt, you could also say that unless some new evidence of a capacity for pain emerges, the doubt is so slight that there is no good reason for avoiding eating sustainably produced oysters".[2]

  1. ^ Kurlansky, Mark (2009) The Big Oyster: A Molluscular History of New York Random House. ISBN 9781409077930.
  2. ^ Cox, Christopher (April 7, 2010). "Consider the Oyster: Why even strict vegans should feel comfortable eating oysters by the boatload". Slate. Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-12.