Do fish feel pain?

bemore · Jun 17, 2013

When I first ever started fishing I pulled out a mirror carp. I was struggling to remove the hook and I could swear blind I heard a high pitched squeal coming from the fish. I asked my best mate/fishing companion if fish can scream and he laughed and said no. Ever since I have been pondering the question of do fish feel pain and have been looking into it.

Wikipedia have some interesting information on the subject here...

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_in_fish"]Pain in fish - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Whilst an article from this year from the dailyfail seems to paint another picture....

Anglers finally off the hook as scientists settle age-old debate over whether fish feel pain | Mail Online

At the end of the day I suppose its a very hard thing to prove either way and to what extent they may suffer (if at all) and without going deeply philosophical I do think that all living things do react to stimuli in their own way.

I think from all the studying I have done for me personally I will err on the cautious side and whilst I don't want to make anything "suffer" without reason, it just gives me more respect in the care and handling I do give the fish when I pull them out.

dangermouse · Jun 17, 2013

Some fish can make a noise, it`s not uncommon for the gudgeon I catch to make a few squeaks and not just when the hook is removed.

Not sure how many other fish do, had a roach do the same a couple of weeks ago but that was the first time I`d heard one make a noise.

chav professor · Jun 17, 2013

Its the fish saying....'NO, No, no....n n n n n n noooo....Oh, Oh, oh...... Arghhhh.... thankyou, that feels better'...........

beerweasel · Jun 17, 2013

I believe Herrings communicate by farting.
If I thought fish felt pain anything like mammals, I wouldn't fish.

chav professor · Jun 17, 2013

Sensibly... I did this to death.... Have the right implements to unhook, handle them as less as possible....

Certainly NOT in a towel as some squeamish anglers seem to these days......

If photographs are a necessity, I keep the fish in the folds of the landing net in the margins. Final organization of photography equipment is set.... Fish is laid on natures unhooking matt - you know, the green one..... And return as quickly as possible... Smaller fish can be unhooked whilst still in the net and need not be removed from the water.

Fish feeling pain is a red herring..

They are a living creature and should be treated with respect... so bemore, your attitude is sound.....

The pain issue is philosophical, impossible to quantify in a way humans comprehend and is pointless anyway IMO.

Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC} · Jun 17, 2013

Categorically not. They are non sentient creatures that do not 'feel' anything in the way that we perceive pain.

richiekelly · Jun 17, 2013

Not this all over again!!!

chefster · Jun 17, 2013

the blanker said:
Not this all over again!!!

I,ll second that!!

Fred Bonney · Jun 17, 2013

Me too it was on for hours without comment, I was hoping nobody would encourage further comment!....it's wind!

A non air breathing creature breathing in air and pushing it out. Get it back in the water as quickly as possible.

bemore · Jun 17, 2013

Sorry if this has been covered before (I did do a quick forum search before posting) but I was genuinely interested in people's opinions.

From the looks of some people replies on here I think it best I bow out of this thread now and let it sink to the bottom of the forum like a broken ledger

mg:

Paul Boote · Jun 17, 2013

the blanker said:
Not this all over again!!!

Yup. Re-cycle, re-cycle, like the T'Graf on its outdoors / wildlife pages taday, June 17th - 'TV Presenter Fined for Fishing Out of Season' or somesuch. How long ago did that happen...?

Extraneous, apropos of nothing idea ... new TV series ... Drop The Dead Barbel...

terry m · Jun 17, 2013

Some catfish can make a grunting type noise by rotating their pectoral spines, but that is not quite in the same as a carp whistling Dixie as you gouge out a barbed hook!

Keith M · Jun 17, 2013

Some Carp anglers that I've met squeak, grunt and fart in the morning but I don't think they feel much pain until they've woken properly; as the saying goes 'where there's no sense there's no feeling' LOL

NB. I'm not having a dig at carp anglers as I was one too for many years

Barbel are known for grunting on the bank when out of water and when feeding upside down on the surface on a warm sultry evening after a fly hatch. Which is possibly where they got the name 'river pigs' from.

john step · Jun 18, 2013

It's been done thousands of times but just to add my twopenceworth....
Just ask the people who tell you if fish feel pain as we do, how long could they stay up to their necks in bitterly freezing cold water without feeling pain.
Fish live like that all the time. They can't possibly feel what we do otherwise they would they would be extinct.

chav professor · Jun 18, 2013

john step said:
It's been done thousands of times but just to add my twopenceworth....
Just ask the people who tell you if fish feel pain as we do, how long could they stay up to their necks in bitterly freezing cold water without feeling pain.
Fish live like that all the time. They can't possibly feel what we do otherwise they would they would be extinct.

The cold water argument is a little misleading.... as fish are cold blooded, it simply effects metabolism.... but yea... it illustrates how different we are and how unlikely it could be to draw meaningful comparisons.

The only agenda for supporting the 'fish feel pain' are a small minority of well funded and organized animal welfare organizations. Fortunately, normal people consider these extremists even more nutty than us anglers.....

smufter · Jun 19, 2013

bemore said:
I think it best I bow out of this thread now and let it sink to the bottom of the forum like a broken ledger mg:

But surely a broken leger won't sink????

Philip · Jun 19, 2013

Done to death and its never been proved one way or the other dispite allot of debate.

Regardless, fish are better off because of anglers.

Do fish feel pain?

bemore

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dangermouse

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chav professor

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beerweasel

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chav professor

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Chris Hammond ( RSPB ACA PAC}

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richiekelly

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chefster

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Fred Bonney

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bemore

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Paul Boote

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terry m

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Keith M

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john step

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chav professor

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smufter

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Philip

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