Do vegetarians eat fish?

I used to eat fish fingers, when I used to go for pub lunches I used to eat scampi, I used to eat pasta with tuna. When I was about 11 by Granny served me tuna pasta and I turned around and said "nope, I don't eat fish anymore." She claimed that was me being a fussy eater but I can't quite remember why I stopped eating fish, I just did. My brothers soon followed suit and I haven't eaten fish since.

If you choose to eat fish and seafood but not the flesh of other animals then technically, you're a pescetarian. I've often heard of those people being called vegetarian too and I don't have a big problem with it, but supermarkets/restaurants etc don't usually label meals including fish as suitable for vegetarians. Recently I read someones pretty horrified tweet that a pub in Bath had labeled a salmon sharing platter as vegetarian friendly. Even if people want to use the general term 'vegetarian' as meaning not eating meat, surely they know fish and seafood come under that too when it comes down to eating meals.

Writing this just made me think of the scene from Finding Nemo where the sharks say "Fish are friends, not food!"

I think the reason I stopped eating fish was probably just because I was old enough to realise that they were animals too (i'm sure I realised this before but probably didn't make the connection) and it was a living, breathing creature that I didn't want to be eating! I enjoyed reading this article about fish whilst writing. I know that some people choose to follow a vegetarian diet but include fish and seafood for health reasons, fish contains omega-3 fatty acids. Then again so does cauliflower, hummus and brussel sprouts! Why does everyone hate on brussel sprouts, they're not that bad!

Or maybe some people just don't see fish in the same category as a sheep or a pig. Which is a shame because why would you differentiate? They both have a brain, heart, nervous system. I see this happening with chicken too. People don't see eating a chicken as that bad, and some that you can even continue eating chicken but call yourself a vegetarian! (Which seems very strange to me).

At the end of the day of course it is entirely up to the individual to follow whatever diet they choose, for whatever reason and I respect peoples choices to eat meat, or fish or enjoy a vegan diet. I appreciate it when people make an effort to provide me with a meal free from meat and fish, even when it's not the norm for them.

Happy eating!