The first-ever undercover investigation conducted by animal rights activists at a fish factory farm has revealed sadistic cruelty to salmon.

The footage, taken over a four-month period at Cooke Aquaculture farms, the world’s largest privately held seafood company, shows workers brutally stomping on live salmon, throwing them around like objects, and slamming them against concrete walls.

The conditions at this facility were so appallingly filthy, some fish were documented with their faces eaten away by fungus. Other fish became so despondent from the stress of being violently handled, they simply stopped eating. In one particularly haunting moment in the undercover video, a worker describes how fish who are underfed and hungry mistake the pupils of other live fish for food and eat them out their heads.

See for yourself.

Though many foolishly believe fish don’t experience pain and hence can’t suffer, science tells us the opposite. In fact, research released just last month by Dr. Lynne Sneddon, the director of bio-veterinary science at the University of Liverpool, showed that fish feel pain similar to humans. Additionally, there have been nearly 100 studies on this subject reviewed by scientists that have all come to the same conclusion.

While commercial fishing certainly wreaks havoc on our oceans, the answer is not to factory farm fish. Keeping sentient animals in such disgusting conditions is not only cruel, it’s morally indefensible.

If we really care about animals, we should just stop eating them. Period. That includes fish. For some vegan alternatives to fish and other seafood, check out some of the suggestions in this article.