A Reuters dispatch from Helsinki, Finland, December 17, 2001:

A fishmonger has been fined almost $200 (125 pounds) by a court in Helsinki for allowing his fish to suffer while on sale at a local market, a Finnish newspaper has reported.

A 27-year-old veterinarian took fisherman Magnus Ekstrom to court, complaining that his burbots at the Helsinki market hall were still moving their gills and wiggling around on the shop counter, suffering from unnecessary pain.

Ekstrom whacked his fish to prove they were dead, but when the fish continued to flop around the dissatisfied vet called in the police who arrived on the scene with wailing sirens, Kauppalehti said.

"I think I am the only fisherman in Europe... no, in the entire world, that has been convicted with a thing like this. Usually people want fish to be as fresh as possible when it's sold," Ekstrom was quoted as telling the daily on Monday.

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