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Fish cannot feel pain say scientists


Still Waters

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For years a row has raged over whether angling is a cruel sport, and now researchers have waded into the debate by claiming that fish cannot feel pain.

A study has found that, even when caught on a hook and wriggling, the fish is impervious to pain because it does not have the necessary brain power.

The research, conducted by a team of seven scientists and published in the journal Fish and Fisheries, concluded that the fish’s reaction to being hooked is in fact just an unconscious reaction, rather than a response to pain.

http://www.telegraph...scientists.html

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How about "fear"? just because they can not feel the pain does not mean they can not fear being harped out the water.

mental pain is not the same as bodily pain and I can not see how scientist could ever know how the fish think mentally....I KNOW, fish are not big thinkers.

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Im not sure about this. Ive seen em on the end of a hook and it looks to me like they felt it. Maybe not like as much as you or I would but they werent lying there like it didnt hurt.

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How about "fear"? just because they can not feel the pain does not mean they can not fear being harped out the water.

mental pain is not the same as bodily pain and I can not see how scientist could ever know how the fish think mentally....I KNOW, fish are not big thinkers.

Agreed, but is the fear instinctual? I don't think it is. Schools of small fish swim away from humans, so whatever it is, it's definitely there in them.

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So, the muscles are reacting without any impulses from the brain?

Edit: ah, kinda of. Because they don't have the same pain receptors as mammals do, fish 'feel' less pain, though their bodies still react to it.

Edited by Hasina
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I say, we hunt down the sharks. If we can feel them bite and they can't feel us, its a sweet deal. Why would we want sharks around anyway?

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I say, we hunt down the sharks. If we can feel them bite and they can't feel us, its a sweet deal. Why would we want sharks around anyway?

To equip them with freaking lasers...duh. ^_^

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I say, we hunt down the sharks. If we can feel them bite and they can't feel us, its a sweet deal. Why would we want sharks around anyway?

Cause, ya know, ecosystem balance and all that old jazz.

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I think it's nonsense that fish don't feel pain; fromthe article:

An RSPCA spokesman said: “There are a number of studies which we believe provide enough evidence to show that fish do feel pain and this remains our view.”

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Who cares? Fish are for eating anyway.

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Who cares? Fish are for eating anyway.

yes, fish are, just like animals survive on other animals in the natural world. We could drag the plants into this too, do they feel pain? Prince Charles may think so, i am not sure. Nature can seem very cruel sometimes when it comes to a matter of survival.....but this is a whole different ball game to those who kill for pleasure.

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I don't buy this for one second. The only reason to fear for such a dumb animal is because something hurts since they can't really comprehend death.

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My take on pain is that it's there as an indicator of stress on the individuals evironment and can lead to evolution. So does a fish feel pain, I don't know, but there has to be some percursor to evolution unless they have evolved to have pain removed, which would be rather ironic.

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There are documented instances of fish committing suicide . They recognise people ,they demonstrate fear .

Anyone who's kept fish ,or bred fish ,can tell you ,they experience pain ,fear ,and even emotions .

I've kept both fresh and salt tanks . I've bred Molly's ,guppies ,and bettas . Fishies feel .

Funny how this study came out just after this one

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=240448&hl=

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I don't know if fish feel pain or not but consider this: All those anglers who carefully return the fish they catch to the river or lake, with very good intentions I'm sure, probably don't know that when a fish is caught and brought out onto land, unhooked and manhandled, the stress of this causes their immune systems to temporarily break down leaving them open to infections and diseases of different kinds. It is highly likely that most if not all fish returned to the water after this ordeal die within days or weeks.

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I don't know if fish feel pain or not but consider this: All those anglers who carefully return the fish they catch to the river or lake, with very good intentions I'm sure, probably don't know that when a fish is caught and brought out onto land, unhooked and manhandled, the stress of this causes their immune systems to temporarily break down leaving them open to infections and diseases of different kinds. It is highly likely that most if not all fish returned to the water after this ordeal die within days or weeks.

I don't capture and release, I capture and eat. Yummmmm.....

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Really, are we heading backwards to Cartesian skepticism? The same man who doubted everything, except that he exists?

"Descartes and his followers performed experiments in which they nailed animals by their paws onto boards and cut them open to reveal their beating hearts. They burned, scalded, and mutilated animals in every conceivable manner. When the animals reacted as though they were suffering pain, Descartes dismissed the reaction as no different from the sound of a machine that was functioning improperly. A crying dog, Descartes maintained, is no different from a whining gear that needs oil."

http://www.examiner....-rene-descartes

Lovely

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Maybe if fish could only speak....

But even then it's still kind of hard to yell, "Fk !! That hurts !!" when you're hanging from your lower jaw on a hook.

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Maybe if fish could only speak....

But even then it's still kind of hard to yell, "Fk !! That hurts !!" when you're hanging from your lower jaw on a hook.

They do "fish sign language" using their tail at that point. :passifier:

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I've kept fish for a long time, and I can recall a few instances where they seemed to feel pain. Once, I netted a freshwater catfish from my aquarium and one of its barbs got stuck in the net. It was calm until I touched the seemingly tender spot by the barb when I was trying to free it.

Another time, I was nursing a koi fish that had an ulcer. Being pretty tame fish, they'll let you stroke them, or feed them by hand. Some will even let you pick them up out of the water if they're comfortable enough with you. While petting this fish in a nursery tub, I accidentally grazed the ulcer and it had a violent reaction letting me know not to do that.

Whether they feel emotion like Simbi was saying, I'm not sure. They will absolutely demonstrate fear. I know they're happy to see me, but that's because they associate me with food, which at the very least dispells the idea that they have little to no memory recall ability. There's a kit out there that will let you train goldfish to do stunts.

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We had a beta for a while, he was the coolest fish. He would come right up to you and blow bubbles at anyone who stuck their finger in the water. If we flicked the surface of the water though he would get seriously p***ed off and try to fight us! He'd swim right up from the bottom and try to ram your finger lol. Awesome little fish!

Edited by WoIverine
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We had a beta for a while, he was the coolest fish.

You ate him, didn't you. Fess-up Wolverine. :passifier:

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You ate him, didn't you. Fess-up Wolverine. :passifier:

A guy's gotta eat ya know. :innocent:

Actually, an ex attempted to clean his fish tank, which was glass, and she kind of broke it. My poor fish was accidentally caught in the glass shatter fallout. :cry:

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I say, we hunt down the sharks. If we can feel them bite and they can't feel us, its a sweet deal. Why would we want sharks around anyway?

When the day comes where you live in the sea, then its your call for survival....too.

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