Parshat Shemini: An Abundance of Fish

Jun 28

Original author - Candace Nachman, edited by the GrowTorah Summer Inchworms 2021

In this week’s parsha, the Jewish people are given the laws concerning fish consumption. Vayikra 11:9-12 explains that all creatures in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers with both fins and scales are kosher. Any aquatic creature not fitting those criteria shall not be consumed.[1]

The first time that Hashem speaks to any of the living creatures, the speech is directed at the fish. Bereisheit 1:22 relates, “And G-d blessed them saying: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas’…” This pasuk connects fish with fertility and abundance. The theme continues when Yaakov later blesses his grandsons, Ephraim and Menasheh - “and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth”[2]. The Hebrew word in that verse translated as “grow” is “v’yidgu,” which seems to be derived from the root word “dag,” meaning fish. Once again, fish are connected to the idea of growth and plenty.

In today’s world, however, fish could not be used as a symbol of fertility and abundance. In its 2020 State of the World Fisheries report, the FAO (Food and Agricultural Association of the United Nations) estimated that in 2018, only 65.8 percent of fish stocks were within biologically sustainable levels, a downward trend from 90 percent in 1974. However, in the past ten years, there have been many positive and negative changes regarding fisheries and regulation. As the FAO explains, in 2017, approximately 6.2% of fish supplies (stocks) were underfished and 59.6% were fished at maximum sustainable yield (fished at a rate where it would not jeopardize the future population of the stock). This was “an increase [in sustainable or underfished stocks] since 1989 due, in part, to improved implementation of management measures.” While progress is being made, it is pertinent to replicate successful strategies for sustainable fisheries.[3]

Work is still underway to stop illegal, unsustainable, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. In 2009, the FAO passed the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA), which prevents fish caught by IUU fishing from entering national markets by prohibiting vessels suspected of IUU fishing into ports. By 2016, there were 30 parties entered into the PMSA agreement. By 2020, there were 66 parties. However, progress still needs to be made in order to reach completely sustainable and ethical fishing, both nationally and worldwide.

Many fish species need time to grow and mature. Chilean sea bass, also known as Patagonian toothfish, live at least 40 years. The orange roughy can live to be 100 years old. In 2001, a fisherman caught a 205-year-old Pacific rockfish. (George Washington was still president when that fish was born.) Many species do not reproduce until they are 20-30 years old. We exacerbate the problem of unsustainable fishing by catching juvenile fish that have not yet had a chance to reproduce. In doing so, we do not allow them the chance to fulfill Hashem’s blessing to them of “p’ru u’revu”—be fruitful and multiply.

Aquaculture, raising fish in captivity as opposed to wild-caught seafood, has been a growing solution to the crisis of world fisheries decline. According to the FAO, aquaculture now accounts for over 50% of the world’s food fish. While some might view this as a solution to the problem of overfishing and exploitation, there are negative effects on the environment as well. Overcrowding in the fish pens leads to stress and disease among the animals. This disease can also trickle out to the wild populations of nearby stocks, decreasing the quality of the surrounding waters.[4] Furthermore, a large proportion of fisheries and aquaculture production is either lost or wasted—35 percent of the global harvest. Just as wild-caught fishing must be held to high ethical and sustainable standards, the same goes for fish raised in aquaculture.

The Ramban (Spain, 1194-1270) writes that the mitzvah of shiluach haken (sending away the mother bird before taking her young) teaches us that we should not cause a species to become extinct.[5] Accordingly, it would behoove us to reexamine our habits that support illegal, unsustainable, and unregulated fishing. Our desire to consume these animals should not be more important than leaving them for future generations or for other species in the food chain that require these same fish for their survival.

One of Yechezkel’s messianic descriptions states:

“Every living creature that will swarm wherever the two streams will go, will live, and the fish will be very abundant, for these waters have come there, and wherever the stream flows, they shall be healed and live. And it will be [a place] beside which fishermen will stand, from Ein-gedi to Ein-eglaim; a place for spreading nets they will be; their fish will be of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many”[6].

If we can try to live our lives in a way that promotes the visions of Yechezkel, we might see the rivers and oceans teeming with fish once again.

The best choice that we can make is to eat fish from sustainable fisheries. There are many kosher fish that are fished in sustainable ways. The Monterey Bay Aquarium provides information on good eco-choices for eating seafood.[7] Chinook Salmon receive a “best” rating and are eco-certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. Other kosher fish species receiving either a “best” or “good” rating include tilapia farmed in either the U.S. or Central America, yellowfin tuna caught in the U.S. by either troll or pole and wild-caught lingcod from either the U.S. or Canada.

Our dominion over creatures in the waters does not also give us the right to cause their extinction. The world and all its inhabitants belong to Hashem. The opportunity before us is to buy fish sustainably, fulfilling the divine mandate for human stewardship of Hashem’s planet—“l’ovdah u’lshomra,” “to use it and to protect it.”