Let us start with animals. You have probably never thought about it before, but fish suffer horribly on the journey from sea to supermarket.

A recent study by researchers at the Roslin Institute in Scotland proves what animal advocates have been saying all along: Fish can feel pain, as all animals do. Dr Lynne Sneddon, who led the study, says her work demonstrates ‘that noxious stimulation in [fish] has adverse behavioural and physiological effects. This fulfils the criteria for animal pain’.

Fish who are caught for food are often impaled, thrown, crushed and mutilated – all while still alive – then left to die slow and painful deaths by suffocation.

Many commercial fishing boats use huge nets, some stretching for kilometres, which swallow up everything – and everyone – in their paths. Fish come out of the nets with their skin scraped completely raw from being forced to rub up against rocks, debris and other fish trapped with them. Pulled from the ocean depths, the fish undergo excruciating decompression, often so intense that the internal pressure pops their eyes out or pushes their stomachs up through their mouths before they are tossed on board, where many slowly suffocate or are crushed to death. Others are still alive when their throats and bellies are cut open.

And for what? So many beautiful, thinking, feeling animals – who value their lives as we value ours – needlessly killed because we humans are addicted to the taste of flesh. I don’t want these wonderful animals to be killed for me.

Sadly, not only does fishing hurt fish, it hurts other animals, too. Countless birds and other animals suffer, and many die, from injuries caused by swallowing fishing hooks or becoming entangled in discarded lines or nets. More than 50,000 Olive Ridley turtles, a protected species under the Indian Wildlife Act, were killed during a recent nesting season by the rampant trawler fishing along the coast of Orissa. We can help stop this by thinking twice about what we put on our plates.

Even if you are not ready to go vegetarian to save animals, how about doing it to save yourself? Did you know that fish and shellfish can accumulate extremely high levels of toxins, including PCBs, dioxins, mercury, lead and arsenic? These toxins can cause human health problems ranging from kidney damage and impaired mental development to cancer and even death.

And here is some frightening news: Research shows that mercury levels in fish are on the rise in India. Kids who eat fish contaminated with mercury can suffer from irreversible neurological damage. Women who eat it may see an increase in the level of mercury in their blood, which affects their developing babies when they are pregnant.

Dangerous chemicals concentrate in the tissues of fish from interior waterways, as well as in those from the oceans. According to an article in The Times of India, the Ganga pollution-monitoring project run by Patna University showed that fish taken from the river contained levels of insecticides and other toxic chemicals far in excess of permissible levels – including 16,000 times more DDT than was present in the water. If you think fish is a health food, think again!

Fish flesh also contains excessive amounts of fat and cholesterol – two things your body certainly does not need – just like the flesh of other animals does, and eating animal foods has been directly linked to heart disease, strokes and cancer, three of the county’s leading killers. If you are eating fish to boost your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, which are helpful in fighting heart disease, try what we vegetarians eat instead: healthy flaxseed or linseed oils, as well as green, leafy vegetables.

Tasty, traditional meatless dishes – from curried chickpeas with peas and potatoes to spicy yellow dal and cauliflower pakora – are favourites around the world. Why not keep the animals off your plate, fish included, while enjoying a delicious diet free from toxins, cholesterol and animal suffering?

To learn how easy it is, visit PETAIndia.com.

Yana Gupta