Do Fish Feel Pain?

“It’s okay to eat fish/ Cause they don’t have any feelings - Kurt Cobain”

I didn’t really eat fish (I hate the tiny bones and cooking them stunk up the kitchen making Aloo go crazy) before going vegan so cutting it out wasn’t a big deal for me.

If fish don’t count, at least that’s one animal back on the menu. Let’s see if the logic for avoiding animal suffering extends to fish as well.

Is Fish Pain Reel?

These days, it’s accepted that fish can feel pain, at least physically. There’s still debate about whether they experience it in the same way humans or even other mammals do.

Dr. Victoria Braithwaite conducted a landmark study which proved that fish are capable of feeling pain. When Braithwaite and her colleagues exposed fish to irritating chemicals, the animals behaved as any of us might: They lost their appetite, their gills beat faster, and they rubbed the affected areas against the side of the tank.

So fish do feel pain, however there is some debate still about this topic.

Memory of a goldfish

Let’s revisit our definition of pain:

An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.

An emotional experience is a key component of pain, and it is suggested that because fish do not have a neocortex like mammals, they don’t experience pain in the same emotional way mammals do. So fish feel physical pain but may not experience or process it like mammals do.

However, studies have shown that fish can exhibit complex behaviours that suggest an awareness of their surroundings and the ability to experience more than just basic physical pain. For example, some fish avoid areas where they previously experienced pain or encountered a predator.

Plenty of Fish in the Sea

Is there anything wrong with fishing though? There are tons of fish right? Surely taking a few out won’t make a difference?

According to the Humane League here are some potential consequences of commercial fishing:

• Bottom Trawling: This method potentially harms sea turtles who are chilling on the ocean floor. Coral reefs are also damaged as the nets scrape along.
• Longline Fishing: Almost eradicated the Southern Blue Fin Tuna. Harms some very vulnerable turtles and also kills many seabirds
• Bycatch: Non-target species can be unintentionally caught and killed, including dolphins, sea turtles, and whales.
• Toxic Water Conditions: Disgarded fishing nets account for almost half the contents of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Aquaculture farms can lead to viruses spreading twice as fast in surrounding waters.
• Overfishing: Commercial fishers will decimate fish populations to profit in the short term, ignoring the fact that the practice destroys ocean ecosystems in the long term

So even though there are plenty of fish, there are even more people to feed, and industries only see the bottom line!

Conclusion

Even though I can understand that it’s not 100%, no asterisks, undisputable that fish experience pain in the same emotional way mammals do, they still feel pain and suffer in their own way.

Personally for me, it is quite easy to avoid eating fish and seafood altogether cause it wasn’t really a big part of my diet to begin with.