Do fish, like humans, experience pain and suffering? People hold very differing beliefs about this question. Some would believe that if fish react to stimuli that would cause a person to feel pain that the fish must also be feeling pain. Others assume that fish are too different from humans for the matter to be of concern. Many people don’t know what to think about the issue. In Hooked on a Myth Do Fish Feel Pain? biologist Victoria Braithwaite says that “there is as much evidence that fish feel pain and suffer as there is for birds and mammals.” Fish don’t necessarily scream when they’re hooked or when the hooks are ripped from their mouths, but their behavior shows evidence of their suffering, if we are willing to look and pay attention to their actions. They might even give us clues in how they suffer. Neurobiologists have long recognized that fish have nervous systems that comprehend and respond to pain. Braithwaite's main argument is why fish are treated differently than other animals because they may feel pain like any other animal. just because fish can't react to pain it does not mean it can't fee it. There's a possibility that fish go through much pain when it is hurt. When a fish is caught and released , it suffers, fish suffer for pleasure of fishers. If I were to fish, I think I would much rather eat the fish than throwing it back because the pain and suffering is already caused the second it is hooked and if you throw it back, the poor fish is traumatized. Although fish don't react when they suffer like other animals do it doesn't necessarily mean they don't feel pain or in other words suffer. They may not clinch or make noise the way dogs do when they are accidently stepped on or cry and respond in a particular way, so we sometimes feel free to treat them in a way that we wouldn't treat any other animal. I believe fish are conscious and should be treated equally to any other animal and I agree with Braithwaite, we should have fish in consideration because after all they are smart and their brain functions very similar to ours.
This makes a very compelling argument and I agree with you. I believe that fish do consciously suffer when they are caught on a hook. I believe that people should only resort to fishing for food rather than for sport. Although fish don't make noise, they do squirm wildly when caught begging to be free and we shouldn't take their silence as an okay to continuously hunt them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree and I do believe that fish do feel pain. It's never been a question that went through my mind, but I just believe that they do. For instance, why wouldn't they feel pain when someone goes fishing and hooks/rips the inside of their lip and they keep moving trying to get back in the water? Just because they are silent does not mean that they cannot feel pain. I just believe that they are incapable of making noises, but they still very much feel pain and do suffer a lot.
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