The Silence of Aquatic Animals and Ethical Considerations of Life within Food Systems

Abstract

This research aims to examine the silence of aquatic animals and its ethical implications for the moral consideration of life within food systems. The silence of aquatic animals is conceptualized as a crucial condition through which the lives and suffering of aquatic beings are overlooked in moral deliberation within food systems. The study observes that although many aquatic animals are sentient and capable of experiencing suffering similarly to other living beings, limitations in their modes of expression and communication—particularly in forms directly recognizable by humans—render such suffering “invisible” and systematically diminished through discourses of efficiency, quality, and economic value. These discursive practices are closely connected to anthropocentric frameworks and the structural organization of life management within food systems. The objectives of this research are threefold: (1) to examine the meaning of the silence of aquatic animals within the context of food systems; (2) to analyze this phenomenon from the perspective of ethics concerning life; and (3) to propose an ethical framework for the appropriate moral consideration of aquatic animal life. This study adopts a qualitative research approach, employing documentary analysis and descriptive-analytical methods, alongside ethical interpretation grounded in animal ethics, food ethics, and Buddhist philosophy. The findings of the study can be synthesized into four key points: (1) the silence of aquatic animals causes their suffering to be excluded from processes of moral consideration; (2) food systems position aquatic animal life as objects of management through technical language and standardized frameworks; (3) the subjectivity of aquatic animals as living beings is obscured from consumers’ moral perception; and (4) interpretation through Buddhist philosophy suggests that silence does not signify the absence of suffering but rather reflects a form of structural ignorance that conceals the interconnectedness of life within networks of causal relations. This research therefore argues that the ethical consideration of aquatic animal life requires the development of moral frameworks that transcend anthropocentric modes of perception and meaningfully incorporate the suffering of voiceless lives within food systems.