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Do fish feel pain?


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Guest --MATT--

I don't reckon they can. Putting it simply, if a hook hurt, they?d move in the direction that the hook was pulling rather than run, which would obviously hurt more. Never hooked a fish that has behaved like this.

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  • 2 weeks later...

a Friend of mine, she studied this at Tafe when she did animal studies.She was taught:No, fish do not feel pain. Pain as we know it to be anyway. They know something is wrong, she was also taught they have different receptors to us. it's like a reflex for them when something is wrong. They would naturally withdraw quickly (reflex) but aren't screaming in agony because they've been impaled with a hook as us humans would be, they just know something is wrong. maybe fish have leprosy. But Tafe could be wrong. Won't stop me from fishing

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  • 6 months later...

When ever I am in diving mode, in the Spencer Gulf, I wear an electronic shark repeller, one of the original South African type. ANY fish, not just sharks, do not come within 6-8 metres of me with the device switched on. I have had large sharks do an abrupt about turn when 6-8 metres away and it was not because they were scared of me. Yet almost as soon as I switch it off I have fish swimming within arms length. Obviously their "polymodal nociceptors" are working overtime when the device is switched on. Define "Pain"!!!!I would say that they would be getting something like the jolt that most of us have experienced from the end of a spark plug lead with the engine running. Pain? Enough to make you NOT want to do it again.I do not believe in Catch and Release even though the law, on some occasions, forces me to do so, eg Size limit on KGs If the Morons had reduced the limit to 27cm instead of increasing it to 31cm then we would not be handling 30-50 fish in order to catch our dozen. Interfere with that slime on their bodies and they WILL NOT survive. I have no intention of torturing fish beyond getting a feed. However, my species attained a very high position at the top of the food chain by killing and eating such creatures so if I must inflict pain in order to eat the little buggers then so be it.RogerG

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  • 1 month later...

What a good question!No it would not! But it would make me address the way in which I fish! I would increase my line strength to skull drag fish to the boat quickly rather than play them out, and I would be forced to reconsider all C&R species! In fact, we all would, because fish would then be included under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and the terms of our sport would then be dictated to us by legislation!Thew thing is though, as it now stands, no-one really knows if fish can feel pain as we know it, but all we do is speculate.

Recent research by the NSW Department of Primary Industries has found that for some species, post release survival is close to 100%, with many species over 90%. Many anglers practice catch & release these days, whether it is because the fish is undersized, unwanted, or bag limits have been reached. Letting a fish go with only a photo as evidence, when appropriate practices are used, means fish suffer little stress at all. Some have even been caught more than once on the same day, by the same person. Check out www.info-fish.net/releasefish/. The NSW DPI website also contains information on released fish survival.

Myself, I believe whether they feel pain in the same way we do, that all animals can suffer, even those without the ability to scream, and all animals are succeptible to subsequent infection from injury. However, due to the biology of fish, I believe hook and line fishing (a hook through the lip) causes little pain or damage, as there is little in the way of soft tissue, blood vessels and other structure to be damaged, other than hard cartilagenous material around the mouth.However, should a hook or injury create extensive damage or excessive bleeding, then the wisest course of action is to swiftly dispatch the fish, unless of course legislation relating to undersized fish or prohibited species prevent this.
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Nicol, you provide a valid arguement! However, as dumb fishermen, we are not entitled to make that decision, and have the terms of release dictated to us, bearing in mind, that if this legislation were changed, it would be very easy for anyone to keep or use undersized fish, "claiming" that sustained injuries would have meant certain death for the fish in question.

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An experiment was conducted at Cambridge Uni in the early 70's using a Geranium plant and a galvanometer. Flea clips from the leads of the galvanometer were clipped to the one leaf of the plantto measure electrical reaction. The scientist then flicked a zippo lighter and very briefly held it on the leaf, the needle on the gm. swung violently to full scale. This was repeated three times. The fourth time the scientist just flicked the lighter from about a foot away and the needle swung half way across the scale without the flame being near it. This is a well documented experiment.I reckon that a fish is a bit smarter than a Geranium plant which not only felt pain but anticipated feeling it!!! I would prefer to think that fish feel pain. They might not be smart enough to remember half an hour later and get caught again but they feel it at the time it is inflicted.Just my two bobs worthRogerG

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  • 4 months later...

Just putting it out there....Based on no research what so ever....but why would a fish pull as hard as it can against a hook if it hurts it?...on the other hand, when they're layin on hot pavement they flip around like all hell...stupid things.So really, there was no point to this post, Ive just contredicted myself.So if you've just read this, im sorry for the inconvenience.cheers Nick.

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gd question there nik

Just putting it out there....Based on no research what so ever....but why would a fish pull as hard as it can against a hook if it hurts it?...on the other hand, when they're layin on hot pavement they flip around like all hell...stupid things.So really, there was no point to this post, Ive just contredicted myself.So if you've just read this, im sorry for the inconvenience.cheers Nick.

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Good question, not sure if they feel pain, they sure pull hard when hooked but then so did the dog the other day when she helped herself to some bait left on a hook, a large snapper hook went through her jowl and she pulled hard and dragged the rod round the back yard, i now the dog felt pain but it dint stop her from pulling. So not sure if the fish feel the hook but if other animals that you can tell feel pain still pull maybe fish feel the hook as well.

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Lets do an experiment.someone catch a bird, see what it does, someone catch a cat, we've got the answer for the dog, someone catch a mouse, someone catch a lion, leopard (that'd be a nice fight), cow, rabbit, someone catch a sheep and some one catch their wife.pm me the results and we might get some where in solving this mystery.

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Nah they don't feel pain,bream/snapper crunch their way though crabs,urchins, barnicles etc and will still feed with hooks in their gobs from 10 mins beforehand then they partially digest it and crap it out the other end,plus when i,ve unhooked fish i've never seen them wincing. cheers brenton

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snapper have a hump whhich they crash into stuff which would hurt but they still do it

Nah they don't feel pain,bream/snapper crunch their way though crabs,urchins, barnicles etc and will still feed with hooks in their gobs from 10 mins beforehand then they partially digest it and crap it out the other end,plus when i,ve unhooked fish i've never seen them wincing. cheers brenton

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  • 2 weeks later...
coight wrote:

Who cares... are we gunna stop catching them.. me thinks not :silly:

No, same as we wont stop eating steak just because cows dont like having a metal bolt fired into their heads and turning their brains to jelly, but will it alter the way we handle our catch in future, or will we be forced to alter the way we handle our catch?ie:Will light line tackle be dropped in favour of skulldragging?Will catch & release become a thing of the past?Will we all carry an iki spike for a fast dispatch?Do we care about these issues?
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I believe that fish do feel pain and I suspect that any living creature has the capacity to feel pain aswell. In saying that I simply add that as fisherman and women and to apease th lunatics of Peta etc that we should all do our best in ensuring that any fish caught should be dealt with as quickly and humanely as possible, be that released back to the water or dispatched for din dins.Life is not perfect and catching/killing creature is going to cause some degree of pain/stress.All we can do is minamize the impact as best we can.THAT WAS DEEP!

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