The "Fish Feel Pain... It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry" article

Post Reply
WB Staff
Posts: 12504
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 10:56 am

The "Fish Feel Pain... It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry" article

Post by WB Staff »

OTZ2FG3ZWQZLLF4WMTSQ6IDKD4.jpg
Fish feel pain.

Read that sentence again: Fish feel pain.

The idea that fish suffer runs counter to almost everything Americans have been taught about creatures of the sea. That their brains are not complex enough to experience pain. That their behaviors when stressed — such as wriggling violently on a hook — are just unconscious reactions, disconnected from the suffering of sentient beings. That they’re, more or less, unfeeling little meat sticks that don’t deserve animal welfare protections.

Greg Abrams, a longtime commercial fisherman in Florida, perhaps best sums up the classic American attitude about fish and their potential to suffer: “God put these animals on the earth for us to survive on,” he says. “Whoever’s coming out with ‘fish are tortured’ or ‘fish feel pain,’ they’re not playing with a full deck. I don’t want to be rude.”

Yet, in recent years, scientists, researchers and biologists — all presumably with their decks intact — have been pushing back on our old ideas about fish pain. One professor has argued that the brains of certain ray-finned fishes are “sufficiently complex to support sentience.” Other academics wrote — in a paper confronting fish-pain skeptics, no less — that fish and other aquatic species “meet [the] criteria for sentience, including the ability to experience positive and negative emotions.”

There's more... read the rest: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/foo ... 7f7087cfcd
callwakeup
Posts: 161
Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 7:26 pm
Location: O.C.

Re: The "Fish Feel Pain... It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry" article

Post by callwakeup »

i will tell a quick story:
i have 2 largemouth bass; 1 bluegill; and a Payara in a large tank; all lived together for over a year; and all get along very well - at one point i added a 3rd largemouth to the equation - and the new largemouth quickly became aggressive towards the Payara - picking on it and harassing it. the 2 established bass took up guard for the Payara; protecting it from aggressor - actively and overtly keeping their friend safe by mouthing off the 3rd bass. The two guard bass actually worked together in their patrol. one would stay close to the Payara, the other would push the attacker away; then after a while they would switch roles -- it was obvious the Payara knew what was going on and made sure to stick by his protectors for the few days the attacker was in the tank . it was amazing; and proved fish sentience to me.
ILW
Posts: 245
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:32 pm

Re: The "Fish Feel Pain... It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry" article

Post by ILW »

Interesting that you got to witness that interaction.
mark poulson
Posts: 10370
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 4:16 am
Location: Antioch, CA

Re: The "Fish Feel Pain... It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry" article

Post by mark poulson »

At some point all this quibbling about pain and suffering has to stop, and we have to accept that all living things are just that, living things, just as entitled to live as any other living thing.
But everything eats something else. Even plants and micro organisms. That's just how life works.
People who are up in arms about fishing need to learn this, and remember it the next time they eat a salad, or a hamburger.
It's why and how you fish that determines whether or not it's cruel.
Attitude plus effort equal success
CLEAN AND DRY
Post Reply