Pescatarianism as an 'ethical halfway house'?

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

Let me say at the start that I am an omnivore and that I fully respect people's choices as to their own dietary decisions (as long as they respect mine), but I am a bit baffled at some people's attitudes to pescatarianism.

Now, if you're pescatarian because you don't like beef, chicken, pork, lamb etc but do like fish then it makes perfect sense. However, there seems to be a widespread attitude amongst a not-insignificant number of people who pride themselves on their personal ethical choices that fish 'aren't really animals'.

When certain people who are vegetarians for ethical reasons find themselves in a foreign country/situation where eating vegetarian is very difficult, they often seem to settle on eating fish as a compromise - a 'halfway house' - in a way that they never would dream of with chicken or beef, however limited the alternative options.

We have a very dear friend who, whilst not 'evangelical' about it, has always described herself as, and prided herself on, being a vegetarian. We were shocked once when we went out for a meal and she ordered scampi. There were several vegetarian options, but she just 'fancied' the scampi. Fair enough. I expressed gentle surprise and she said "Oh, yes, I eat fish." I commented in a friendly way "Oh, I didn't know you were pescatarian." This made her very cross and she insisted "No, I am a VEGETARIAN!!" I left it there - her life, her choice - but I was somewhat perplexed.

Considering that it is perfectly possible to stun and kill a cow or sheep in a relatively humane way with little pain or advance knowledge/fear (obviously, still totally unacceptable to many); whereas it is impossible to catch and kill a fish without causing it trauma and drowning it.

As I say, it's entirely up to everybody to choose what they are willing to eat for whatever reason, but I just wonder why some people will pointedly not eat 'anything with a face' for ethical reasons - unless it's a fish; and then get offended (OK, it might just be my friend on this one) when you describe them using the neutral term that was specifically developed to distinguish them from vegetarians.

I realise that vegans mostly see ALL vegetarians as 'halfway-house fence-sitters' for not eating the remains of a slaughtered animal but for happily enjoying the products of their 'misery' - taking milk away from calves, eating eggs that leads to male chicks being thrown into a mincer as soon as they're born etc. - although, even then, how many vegans take a stand and actively refuse to buy produce originating from farms that use pesticides and thus cause the deaths of animals in order that humans can eat?

But I digress. No intention at all of insulting or criticising people for their own choices - I'm just interested to understand the rationale behind permanent or temporary pescatarianism amongst those who blanket-refuse to eat all other kinds of animals for ethical reasons.

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I agree with much of what you said but I don't think many people are pescitarean as first step towards ultimate vegetarianism (which itself is not a step towards being vegan).

"It depends why people are eating a pescatarian diet. If it's because of animal cruelty it's a bit hypocritical but if it's because of health or environmental reasons it makes sense."

See, I don't think it is hypocritical because fish aren't kept in awful conditions on farms for their whole life.

No skin in the game btw, I am a meat eater, but I do think cutting out meat is better than nothing.

It is so annoying when people use the wrong terms to describe their diet preferences. My DD is a vegetarian and has been for 20 years. She doesn’t eat any meat or fish at all but over the years she has been often been offered chicken and fish as some people who describe themselves as veggie eat these animal products. She has even been served chicken/prawns in restaurants when she has ordered meals labelled as suitable for vegetarians. I even know someone who calls herself vegetarian but regularly eats chicken and pork and lamb, what she means by veggie is that she doesn’t eat beef!

The misuse and misunderstanding of the correct labels is so prevalent that my DH saw someone complaining at the local Wetherspoons because they didn’t get a fried egg with their vegan breakfast.

p.s. she definitely is a pescatarian and I'm not sure why she'd be offended by this

I knew a man that would post angry statuses about people calling him vegetarian. He stated how it pissed him off as he didn’t eat meat, just ate vegetables but wasn’t a vegetarian.

Just would randomly complain of that.
Okay then.

He turned out to be a nasty person in general.

Just putting out there that not all fish farms are bad. The fish don't just swim in their own shit or they wouldn't grow and would in fact die, so not the best economic model to run a multi million pound business on.
They can also be kept to the same standards for things like organic status, fewer in a tank etc, the same as the organic meat that you would potentially happily buy.