On March 18, 23 and 24, events were held in Bialystok, Szczecin and Poznan as part of the Fish as sentient beings program. In three expert debates, panelists discussed the impact of fish farming on the ecosystem, biodiversity, public health and animal rights.

In Bialystok, the discussion organized with the LUWIA Association included:

Prof. Dr. Andrzej Elzhanowski – zoologist, bioethicist, lecturer, author of scientific publications. The professor is a lecturer at Artes Liberales University of Warsaw, an expert of the Expert Council of the Green REV Institute. For years he has been active in the field of humane animal protection and has published on the ethics of animal treatment. He was a member of the National Ethical Commission for Animal Experiments in its first term (1999-2003), a leading co-author of the draft of the last successful amendment to the Law on Animal Protection (of 2010) and architect of the campaign (2012-2014) against ritual slaughter. He was instrumental in improving the current 2015 Law on the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific and Educational Purposes, which introduced the requirement of a qualified two-thirds majority for local ethics committee approval of an animal experiment. He currently serves as President of the Polish Ethical Society and is a member of the 1st Local Ethical Committee for Animal Experiments in Warsaw. In 2004 he was honored with the statuette of Przasnysz Coryphaeus.

Dr. Maja Białek – is a philosopher and cognitive scientist from the Department of Philosophy of the
University of Bialystok. She specializes in the philosophy of psychiatry and the
philosophy of mind, and has published on anthropomorphism and the study of animal minds, among other topics. She is assisted in her research by four cats, most notably the redhead.

Paul Chyc – is a cognitive anthropologist. He conducted long-term ethnographic research in the Bolivian Amazon among the Moré people. The subjects of his research included.
Moré Indians’ cultural representations of animals and their impact on the Moré’s relationship with the natural world. He is preparing his doctorate at the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. She works at the University of Bialystok as a member of the Department of Cognitive Sociology. He maintains a Facebook page: Anthropologist in Bolivia.

Luiza Wojda – volunteer in the International Movement for Animals – VIVA!, pro-animal activist, associated with the December interventions during the sale of live fish, trainer of plant-based cuisine, environmentalist, teacher.

The events are held as part of the activities of the Green REV Institute, Future Food 4 Climate and partner organizations in the Fish Welfare program, supported by the Animal Charity Evaluators Movement Grants.

Credit: We Animals Media