Stop Importing Dyed Fish! My Letter......

[lilmisshertz]

Hi there, Im planning to send an email to my MP, about how barbaric i think fish dyeing is, and why I think importing dyed fish to the UK should be banned.
If I've got wrong info, or anything else, please let me know! I'll be posting tomorrow so any advice would be great!! Get commenting......... hahaha

Dear Mike Penning.
I really feel I should highlight to you my concerns on fish dyeing.
I feel that this procedure is in-humane and cruel, as many others do. To Dye fish, they use 3 methods, all of which are not considered humane at all in my opinion.

Coloured Food - Young fish are fed treated foods that will temporarily tint them. Once they are no longer fed the treated food, they eventually lose their colour. Unfortunately the dye they consume can negatively affect their growth and development.

Dye Injection - Needles are used to inject dye under the skin. Because only a small area is affected, the fish must be subjected to many punctures to achieve the desired effect. The popular painted glassfish are dyed this way, using florescent coloured paints. Fish that are injected often contract infections from the punctures.

Dipping - As barbaric as dye injections seem, this practice is even worse. The fish are first put into a caustic solution that strips off their protective outer slime coating. They are then dipped in dye, or injected with dyes, after which they are dipped in another chemical that irritates the flesh to stimulate re-growth of the slime coat. This method is very stressful, and has a high mortality rate.

So the question is, why do people dye fish? Well the answer is simple. The more colourful/attractive the fish, the more chance of a sale. But what benefits do the fish get? None. Dyeing is carried out purely for show, and to make extra money. The fish that are dyed will go through alot of stress, to inject a fish, they have to use a needle which is very large in comparison to the fish. Its like us being injected with a needle the width of a pencil! Not very pleasant at all. Especially when it wasn't even for your own good.
Out of every 100 fish treated, 80 will die, from the remaining 20 that survive 18 will lose all the false colouration within a matter of months, just 2 out of every 100 fish treated will survive and retain the colouration for any length of time and it is likely that these remaining 2 fish with have shortened lifespans - This is not right. Surely you can see why this barbaric behavior is wrong. Customers who are not aware of the process of how the fish got its lovely colour, will just buy it because it looks good. If people actually explained to them how that fish got its colour, and what the consequences would be (short lifespan etc) I'm confident that the majority would decide not to buy dyed fish and choose a fish of much better health, and know that the beauty of the fish they select hasn't been dyed, it is natural. They would appreciate it alot more in my opinion.
We have enough colourful, amazing fish out there we do not need to dye them. Some people have fish just so it looks good in their living room/bedroom etc, but true fish keepers, will respect the natural colour of the fish they have, and not only keep them for their appearance, but everything else that comes with owning a fish.
Fish are alive, and have a nervous system. They may not show pain like us, but they must feel pain. Just because fish can't show their weakness's, it doesn't mean they should be treated unfairly.
How can it be that we can ban fish dyeing in the UK, but still get them imported? Surely the reason for banning fish dyeing is because we classed it as mutilation and therefore put a stop to it. Importing dyed fish into the UK doesnt stop the fish from being dyed, the fish still go through the same procedures (which has been banned in the UK?). If we continue to get fish imported into the UK we are saying its ok to dye fish. Then why the ban? We should really be banning them from the country, if we thought it was inhumane and cruel. Its like saying I don't agree with that, but ship it into the UK and it won't matter, as we didn't do it. That way of thinking is totally unacceptable, as I'm sure you'll agree so why are we doing it?
Please think about this, as the longer we leave this mess, the more fish are dying unneccessarily, or are going to lead short lives and may experience problems of stunted growth etc, which is not good for them.
Why should people be given the right to end a fishes life, either when the procedure is being done, or before their true lifespan, just because of their appearance?
Please get back to me on what you can do,
Regards
Paula, Hertfordshire

 

[kribensis12]

I like it.

 

[lilmisshertz]

I like it.

Thanks kribensis Anyone else have any suggestions.... I don't want to get it wrong before posting!! lol

 

[rsands]

Change the last line to: I look forward to your reponse

Kind Regards.......

 

[lilmisshertz]

That sounds much better rsands......
I'll change that now, much more formal!

 

[rsands]

i am reading through the letter and changing bits to sound like its a group of people ahve concerns...give it more power

 

[*Fishkies*]

Sounds like a very nice letter to me. job!!

I applaud your efforts!

 

[chibi]

I think you need to put references and sources of your information. Otherwise, they could be like "They're making this up!" And don't use Wikipedia for a source. Many professors, teachers, and high ranked people don't like it because anyone can edit it.

 

[lilmisshertz]

Ok thanks you lot, keep the suggestions coming!!!
so far:
- back up my statistics, information with evidence
- Change "I" to something that sounded more of a group, such as "we" etc
- Kind regards and look forward to hearing........ lol

Ok got it....anything else?

 

[The-Wolf]

I aggree, perhaps a link to PFKs dyed fish campaign and deathbydying.org

 

[lilmisshertz]

I think you need to put references and sources of your information. Otherwise, they could be like "They're making this up!" And don't use Wikipedia for a source. Many professors, teachers, and high ranked people don't like it because anyone can edit it.

hmmmm. I'm reading from different websites. Some say "Dr ...." Are they good links to use?
As in "Dr Stan MacMahon and Dr Peter Burgess explain the damage done to fish when they are barbarically injected with dye" and quote what they wrote? or does it have to be much more than that, such as book information. etc

 

[rsands]

Dear Mike Penning,

I would like to highlight to you my concerns on fish dyeing and importing them into the UK market. This procedure is in-humane and cruel, as many will agree with my concerns. To Dye fish, they use 3 methods, all of which are not considered humane in the aquatic industry. The 3 methods are as follows:

Coloured Food - Young fish are fed treated foods that will temporarily tint them. Once they are no longer fed the treated food, they eventually lose their colour. Unfortunately the dye they consume can negatively affect their growth and development.

Dye Injection - Needles are used to inject dye under the skin. Because only a small area is affected, the fish must be subjected to many punctures to achieve the desired effect. The popular painted glassfish are dyed this way, using florescent coloured paints. Fish that are injected often contract infections from the punctures.

Dipping - The fish are first put into a caustic solution that strips off their protective outer slime coating. They are then dipped in dye, or injected with dyes, after which they are dipped in another chemical that irritates the flesh to stimulate re-growth of the slime coat. This method is very stressful, and has a high mortality rate.

So the question is, why do people dye fish? Well the answer is simple. The more attractive/colourful the fish is then the higher the chance of a sale and a price in the market. The fish that are dyed will go through alot of stress for these price gains. The needle used is very large in comparison to the fish being dyed.

Out of every 100 fish treated, 80 will die. From the remaining 20 that survive 18 will lose all the false colouration within a matter of months. Thats just 2 out of every 100 fish treated survive and retain the colouration for any length of time and it is likely that these remaining 2 fish with have shortened lifespans.

Furthermore, customers are not aware of the process of how the fish got its lovely colour and are led to believe it is a normal species. If retailers actually explained to the customer how the fish got its colour and what the consequences would be I'm sure that the majority would decide not to buy dyed fish and choose a fish of much better, natural health.

We have enough colourful, amazing fish in this industry that we do not need to dye them. Fish are alive, and have a nervous system. As you are aware many fish are banned in the UK for import concerns and I and many others agree that dyed fished should be banned from sale in the UK whether imported or not.

How can it be that we can ban fish dyeing in the UK, but still get them imported? Surely the reason for banning fish dyeing is because we classed it as mutilation and therefore put a stop to the sale of these fish completely. If we continue to get fish imported into the UK we are saying it is still ok to dye fish.

I Look forward to your response.


Kind Regards
Paula, Hertfordshire

 

[The-Wolf]

Dr Pete Burgess is a world renowned ichthyologist and would be a very good reference.

 

[Arfie]

Hi lilmishertz,

You might want to read the Dyed fsh thread pinned at the top of the Tropical Chat section HERE

I wrote a very similar letter as did many of the members on here, I suggest you have a read through it all before you waste your time writing to an MP who can't do anything.

But good on you for trying to do something

The next stage needs to be a campaign to the MEP's to get a europewide ban if possible.

Arfie

 

[screamingdonkey]

...before you waste your time writing to an MP who can't do anything

I'm afraid I tend to agree.
Writing to your MP will result in you getting a fairly standard reply (in about 2-3 weeks) with all the usual "Thank you for raising your concerns over this issue", "I understand your concerns" and finishing off with something along the lines of "There's not much I can do it about it"....

The problem is unless your issue is either of local/national interest to the wider public (usually brought about by media headlines) or unless you're a successful lobbying organistaion or a respected & recognised body within the industry that the issue relates to, you are never going to get the issue debated in Parliament. And if the government doesn't have plans to introduce a Bill relating to that subject, then your only option is what's known as a Private Members Bill.
These RARELY become Acts of law and even if (which is an absolutely MONUMENTAL if!) your local MP was to bring this to the House of Commons as a PMB, then it would almost certainly start way down the list of topics to be debated as (cruel as it may sound to us fish keepers) this is not an important issue on a national level and it has not made many column inches in the tabloid press.

This is just my humble opinion but please note that I've worked in both the Public Secretariat and the Press Office of a government body in the past and I have first hand experience of how things tick inside Whitehall.

I agree with you in that the banning of dyed fish is a worthwhile cause to fight; I just don't think your local MP would see that his seat in the next term of Parliament depends on it I'm afraid. And if we can't get the Government to listen then our best option as concerned fish keepers can be seen with implementing Keynes-ian Supply and Demand theory - if nobody wants to buy the fish, then your LFS will stop filling their tanks and shelf space with stock that won't shift. And if your LFS, and all the other LFS's around the UK don't want to buy dyed fish, then the wholesale businesses/importers will stop selling them... and IF we ever get to that stage, tell me one good reason why some firm in Singapore who are out to make as much money as possible would want to dye fish that nobody wants to buy?