Mermaids and Seafood

[ImaginMertrix]

I see so much talk on these forums how Mermaids are strictly against the consumption of their "ocean friends" but... that doesn't quite make sense to me? :P

Living in the ocean they'd need some source of protein, right? I doubt they could live on kelp salads, and there are plenty of animal-loving land-dwellers that eat meat... I think they might have rules, like there are domestic fish that aren't exactly seen as food (like cats and dogs, probably dolphins, manatees, whales, etc.) and fish that are free game! I imagine big game hunting parties bringing home sharks for a feast (I kid).

I always assumed mermaids would love seafood, seaweed, salty things, etc. and it didn't cross my mind they'd be too against it until I saw it here!

Then again, I'm probably a biased mergirl as seafood is my absolute favorite.

[SeaSister]

I totally get where you're coming from. Personally, I always imagined that mermaids would be more closely related to cetaceans, like dolphins and porpoises, than fish and would therefore have a similar diet. Herring, shellfish, anchovies, other small fish, etc. etc.

[leeloo]

I see your point, and honestly, if mermaids did exist, they probably would eat some fish. However, there are some good plant sources of protein in the sea, such as spirulina, which has 4 grams of protein per tablespoon. I don't eat my "ocean friends" but I also don't eat my "land friends" either. It does seem kind of odd to me though when people won't eat fish but will eat land animals. Although like you said many people will eat some land animals but not others (which I now find weird too since going vegan).

[Echidna]

Living in the ocean they'd need some source of protein, right? I doubt they could live on kelp salads

There are plenty plants and stuff which are of high nutritional value.
Seaweed has way more iron and other nutrients than meat.
You can live easily without meat on land (it's even healthier, because meat isn't suitable for humane intestines, but that's another story).

However, there is of course a lot more stuff on land than in water- domesticated plants, nuts, roots-,
so I'm not sure if a vegan diet could be accomplished if merpeople existed.

Legends do tell us merpeople are horrified and disgusted when they see humans eat fish, so that's where the notion comes from.
You can compare it to land-dwelling fairies, who also won't touch meat, and who can communicate with animals.

So even if there were not enough protein in waterplants to sustain a "real" water-dwelling species
(and who knows what their bodies would work on?), there is always the magical component.

[SeaGlass Siren]

I swear I think there was another thread dedicated to this topic

[Shaylee Moon]

I don't think I had ever heard of a mermaid being horrified and disgusted when they see humans eating fish until mernetwork to be honest. It just makes a lot more sense to me that mermaids eat fish.

[Thalassa]

What legends tell of this? I don't remember any but I love legends and would love to read where you got this.

And as I've always said: even if mer people were fish, fish eat fish. So it would be more natural for a mer person to eat fish than to abstain from fish. Abstaining from fish would more likely be a personal philosophical choice. (And saying mers eating fish is cannibalism is like saying mammals eating mammals is cannibalism. It's not. Some find it distasteful, but it's not cannibalism.)

And yes, there's another thread discussing this but if I recall correctly the original post in that thread was to tell everyone that mer people don't/shouldn't eat fish. Tapatalk search isn't working for me so I can't look it up right now.

[Shaylee Moon]

I think mers should because fish do eat fish and fish would most definitely fall into their main diet. Like people eat meat. We need the nutrients and vitamins from the meat. Thats why its advised that vegetarians take vitamins. So it would make sense the fish to mermaids would be like meat to humans.

[sashiyoop]

It's not so much a matter of should as it is a matter of what you personally think mermaids are like. For example, we all have slightly different ideas of what they look like, and so slightly different ideas of what their diet is like is natural. Personally, I think they would eat fish, but not as high a percentage as humans consume meat. Plants are actually a wonderful source of pretty much everything we need to survive, and even with lower levels of protein, they still have enough of it to live a healthy life on them alone. Seaweed is very nutritious, but I honestly can't see mermaids not hunting something.This is my personal opinion, though, and you don't have to agree with it at all.

[PearlieMae]

I eat fish and I'm a mermaid. And cake. I LOVE cake! Why do you think I come to the surface so often? Cake underwater is not good cake.

[Shaylee Moon]

Personally for me eating seafood makes me feel more mermaid like

[Shaylee Moon]

Its like mermaid food for me

[SeaSister]

Lol PearlieMeae! I have not yet tasted underwater cake but I will be sure to keep in mind that it's not as good as dry cake. :P

Also, Leeloo, am I weird because I eat fish but not meat (except for very occasionally, and only if I know it was local, organic and treated humanely. Nothing from factory farms)? And I agree about feeling more "mermaidy" when eating seafood.

[Thalassa]

I'm not really familiar with underwater edibles, but for a long time I've thought that a mer person's diet must be very different. They might have fish eggs but a lot of other eggs are laid on land so they'd have to go there to collect them. Grinding anything into "flour" would have to be done differently otherwise the particles would float away. Not to mention there aren't many good ways of "cooking" something underwater. There are vents, but if I recall those are pretty deep and few. So pretty much mers would have to eat what they could catch and consume with a minimum of processing. Unless they wanted to go on land.

No wonder we go berserk when we taste something like a chocolate cupcake! ;-)

[leeloo]

Memaid Bonny, humans do not need to eat meat. They may choose to, but it definitely isn't a need. The only nutrient in meat that can't easily be obtained from plants is B12. B12 actually comes from bacteria, not the meat itself, so theoretically one could simply not wash their produce well and still get the B12 they need. We also don't need that much and our body can recycle most of what we need. However, it typically is recommended that vegans take a B12 supplement. Many vegan foods are also high in protein, such as beans, lentils, rice, wheat, tofu, tempeh, nuts, seeds, quinoa, spirulina, and so on. Quinoa is a complete protein, and rice and beans together also make a complete protein. Other nutrients like calcium and iron can be found in leafy greens. SeaSister I do not think you are weird for eating fish but not meat (although fish is still meat, but I do understand the distinction). That is actually pretty common. From a health standpoint I think eating fish is usually better than eating other types of meat, however you have to be careful with mercury and other poisons that can be found in fish. Many fish are also caught in trawling nets that produce a lot of by-catch such as turtles and dolphins. Some are raised in factory farms which are overcrowded and filthy which can spread disease. Fish is also commonly mislabeled as other types of fish, so even if you choose fish that is supposed to be lower in mercury you may not actually get what you think you are getting, so be careful.

[SeaSister]

Leeloo you make some good points about fish farms and mercury labels. I absolutely do not support fish farming, especially since I live on the West Coast where seafood is so abundant I see no need for having farms. One of the main controversial issues is the farming of Atlantic salmon which, honestly, is pointless to me. We already have so many varieties of salmon that can be wild-caught (although, the numbers have begun to dwindle due to over-fishing... another controversial issue) that it's really not worth the risk that comes with farming foreign fish species in local waters. A "spill" of the larger and more aggressive Atlantic salmon around here would be catastrophic for the local salmon species, so it's something I feel very strongly about. Naturally, I only eat wild-caught or sustainably-sourced seafood, which is made easier thanks to programs such as "SeaChoice". I generally avoid high-mercury fish (high mercury = fish that are higher up in the food chain), but I do occasionally eat canned tuna. I've never had things like shark or swordfish, nor do I intend to lol.

Ps, I'm glad you know about the rice and beans thing! Not many people know about how they make up a complete protein when eaten together. I love rice and beans, yay Mexican food! Lol.

[Shaylee Moon]

Really? I had no idea about the meat thing. I feel like I probably should because my parents are nurses, hahah.

[Shaylee Moon]

Oh, yeah and I guess the rice and beans thing will probably come in handy since I'm puerto rican

[leeloo]

lol I love rice and beans too! And Mermaid Bonny, its a common misconception.

[Shaylee Moon]

You learn something new every day!