Sri Lankans Stop Eating Fish

[Comrade]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/02/world/main664262.shtml

Seafood prices plunged in Sri Lanka on Sunday because of fears that fish may have fed on thousands of human corpses washed into the sea by the region's tsunami.

Fish stalls usually buzzing with customers were deserted, supermarkets reduced the number of fish counters by half and restaurants took seafood off their menus.

"Our sales have been reduced by 90 percent," said Lakshman Rajapakse, who has been selling fish at St. John's Fish Market for 36 years.

Prawns normally selling for $3 a pound found no buyers at $1, he said, sounding desperate.

Crabs, prawns and groupa lay on wooden boxes. Water was sprinkled on them to try keep them fresh — but a powerful odor testified to the lack of success.

By late afternoon, none of the morning's supply had been sold.

"Normally this place is swarming with people," said W.S. Dharmawardene, chief of the market, looking at the bare ceramic-tiled shelves and empty stalls.

"We have been victimized twice over," lamented A.P. Padmasiri, who brought in a truckload of fish but was forced to send it back to cold storage.

"I have lost all my boats, and when I come here no one wants any fish," he said.

Many people feared that the fish had fed on human flesh and would be contaminated and lead to disease, but health officials said that was untrue.

"Scientifically, there's nothing to prove that fish caught after the tsunami cannot be consumed," Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told The Associated Press. "It's only a psychological myth that I'm sure will pass with time."

"Naturally, the fish would have attacked some of the corpses," said Thilak Ranaviraja, head of the Disaster Management Center. "But people shouldn't worry. It's like eating pork. Pigs eat all the rubbish. But we eat pork, don't we?"

But consumers remained doubtful.

"Since Dec. 26 there have been no customers," Padmasiri said. "People are afraid."

Fish is a staple for most Sri Lankans, and scores of seafood restaurants dot Colombo's coastline.

"We are serving a few cuttlefish dishes and prawns brought in before the tsunami," said Nalin Rodrigo, manager at the Selfish Restaurant. "We don't plan to order any fresh stocks because guests are not ordering seafood dishes."

Chicken replaced most of the seafood at Cargill supermarket, pushing up poultry sales 30 percent, manager Fowzi Ismail said.

The tsunami struck two-thirds of Sri Lanka's coast. It killed nearly 30,000 people in the country and destroyed the livelihood of many fishermen who lost their boats and nets, along with their homes.


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Obviously no one on this coast is starving, or else this idea of avoiding fish in the market would be moot.

And such finnicky eating habits are certain to destroy the livelihood of the fishermen on this coast.

I wonder how much of our food aid will be diverted to satisfy the prudush sensibilities of these discerning taste buds?

 

[dilloduck]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/02/world/main664262.shtml

Obviously no one on this coast is starving, or else this idea of avoiding fish in the market would be moot.

And such finnicky eating habits are certain to destroy the livelihood of the fishermen on this coast.

I wonder how much of our food aid will be diverted to satisfy the prudush sensibilities of these discerning taste buds?

I guess it's an expected response form traumatized people who have little education. I wonder if their are some religious injunctions that are also feeding this reluctance to eat see food that may have eaten human corpses. On a lighter side , I bet the Red Lobster suppliers can get get some good deals !

 

[Hobbit]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/02/world/main664262.shtml

Obviously no one on this coast is starving, or else this idea of avoiding fish in the market would be moot.

And such finnicky eating habits are certain to destroy the livelihood of the fishermen on this coast.

I wonder how much of our food aid will be diverted to satisfy the prudush sensibilities of these discerning taste buds?

It doesn't have anything to do with taste. Corpses breed disease, and thousands die every year from diseased fish. I, personally, don't blame them. It would be like refusing to drink water from a source downhill from a chicken house. It's not the grossness of drinking chicken feces. It's the health risk.

 

[dmp]

It doesn't have anything to do with taste. Corpses breed disease, and thousands die every year from diseased fish. I, personally, don't blame them. It would be like refusing to drink water from a source downhill from a chicken house. It's not the grossness of drinking chicken feces. It's the health risk.

Yup.. Exactly.

 

[Patriot]

Or how about the basic "ick" factor of cannibalism? Maybe they heard about "soylent green is people"?


I mean would you like to have the possibility of eating your mother, son or father?

 

[no1tovote4]

Or how about the basic "ick" factor of cannibalism? Maybe they heard about "soylent green is people"?


I mean would you like to have the possibility of eating your mother, son or father?

Can you imagine Buddhists having the possibility of eating human?

I think I may starve.

 

[Patriot]

I think I may starve.

Ditto!

 

[Mr. P]

Grossed out?
If you eat beef you should know their feed contains chicken feces.

I think their silly not to eat the fish.
Cuz....

1.all the fishing boats were destroyed, right? So where did the fish come from?

2.it's only been a week...their not eating fish guts are they? The flesh/meat would be unaffected, IMO.

Eat while ya can....

 

[Patriot]

Grossed out?
If you eat beef you should know their feed contains chicken feces.

I think their silly not to eat the fish.
Cuz....

1.all the fishing boats were destroyed, right? So where did the fish come from?

2.it's only been a week...their not eating fish guts are they? The flesh/meat would be unaffected, IMO.

Eat while ya can....

I'll eat chicken feces before I eat a human any day!

 

[Hobbit]

Grossed out?
If you eat beef you should know their feed contains chicken feces.

Not true. It may contain residue due to chicken feces being used as fertilizer or may even contain things processed from feces, but raw feces would kill cows and cause disease in the humans that ate them.

 

[no1tovote4]

Grossed out?
If you eat beef you should know their feed contains chicken feces.

No issues, eat beef or not that has always been there.

I think their silly not to eat the fish.
Cuz....

1.all the fishing boats were destroyed, right? So where did the fish come from?

After a week fish that had not been recently caught would not be sold on that market. Clearly not every boat was destroyed.

2.it's only been a week...their not eating fish guts are they? The flesh/meat would be unaffected, IMO.

Eat while ya can....

How long does it take for the fish to digest what it ate? It is clearly possible you may be eating tainted meat. I see your point, but I can see theirs too. As I said before, it is probable I would choose to starve before eating a fish that has eaten human flesh.

 

[freeandfun1]

No issues, eat beef or not that has always been there.



After a week fish that had not been recently caught would not be sold on that market. Clearly not every boat was destroyed.




How long does it take for the fish to digest what it ate? It is clearly possible you may be eating tainted meat. I see your point, but I can see theirs too. As I said before, it is probable I would choose to starve before eating a fish that has eaten human flesh.

not to sound sick, but I have been wondering how many were swept out to sea only to be eaten by sharks or other sea-life..... crabs and lobsters are scavengers.....

 

[dilloduck]

not to sound sick, but I have been wondering how many were swept out to sea only to be eaten by sharks or other sea-life..... crabs and lobsters are scavengers.....

Circle of life----everything goes around and around---even humans. Don't ever think that you've never eaten something that wasn't once a small part of a human.

 

[freeandfun1]

Circle of life----everything goes around and around---even humans. Don't ever think that you've never eaten something that wasn't once a small part of a human.

never said i did. i understand how the circle of life works.....

 

[dilloduck]

never said i did. i understand how the circle of life works.....

sorry-- no offense meant

 

[no1tovote4]

Circle of life----everything goes around and around---even humans. Don't ever think that you've never eaten something that wasn't once a small part of a human.

Not as directly as this. There is a difference when one molecule of the fish/plant/sandwich might have at one point been part of a human and when the animal has recently eaten the flesh of a human. Would you partake of a pig that had been fed the body parts of deceased relatives? The pig would eat them, but would you want to eat it after that?

 

[dilloduck]

Not as directly as this. There is a difference when one molecule of the fish/plant/sandwich might have at one point been part of a human and when the animal has recently eaten the flesh of a human. Would you partake of a pig that had been fed the body parts of deceased relatives? The pig would eat them, but would you want to eat it after that?

nope----I've been conditioned to be grossed out by that

 

[no1tovote4]

nope----I've been conditioned to be grossed out by that

Just as eating human flesh directly would give the same conditioned response. There is no doubt that they could still be starving but refusing this particular meal for that reason.

 

[dilloduck]

Just as eating human flesh directly would give the same conditioned response. There is no doubt that they could still be starving but refusing this particular meal for that reason.

no doubt---I was curious about religious reasons too--need to talk to Said about the Hindus I guess---muslims too

 

[Avatar4321]

Not as directly as this. There is a difference when one molecule of the fish/plant/sandwich might have at one point been part of a human and when the animal has recently eaten the flesh of a human. Would you partake of a pig that had been fed the body parts of deceased relatives? The pig would eat them, but would you want to eat it after that?

Pigs might but would fish? im not sure there are that many that would.