Do Fish Feel Pain?

[Blitzseeker]

Not to flood the board with every article I see, but I thought this was interesting:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe...ear/index.html

My view is, they don't.

[fishsmith]

I don't care if they do or don't I just want to catch them. Plus think how good you make them feel when you let them go.

[MountainBreeze]

See... Now this torques me off!

"Research found that fish have receptors in their heads and that subjecting them to noxious substances causes 'adverse behavioral and physiological changes.'"

Uhhh... Yeah! Is that really a surprise???

"This fulfils the criteria for animal pain, said Dr. Lynne Sneddon who headed the research."

Now, to me that is a surprise! See, to me, that would fulfil the criteria for having an adverse reaction to a noxious substance.
See, if when injected the fish said, "DANG THAT HURT," then I would say that fulfils the criteria for pain.

But, I guess that's why I'm not a scientist! And, since I don't dip my hooks in noxious substances before I cast, the fish shouldn't feel a thing. Right???

DUMB BASTAGES!

[hooked]

Feel pain? Probably...

I bet some feel lonely and sad. Others probably feel misunderstood and unappreciated.

My favorite fish, though, are the ones that feel hungry.

[Notaro]

yes, they do. i read the SporFishing magazine, a person asked the writer if a fish can cry and he replied to her that it can. i dont have a picture, but you can go on the sportfishing website and find it. maybe i'll scan it and post it. gime some times.

[chris L]

'adverse behavioral and physiological changes.'"
yep when was the last time you saw a fish on drugs , or wearing colors with an attitude , or beating up other fish ? some people need to find things to justify their jobs or lives . fish feel pain for a very short time then its back to feeding . Do they feel pain I hope so !

[JohnR]

Originally posted by Notaro
yes, they do. i read the SporFishing magazine, a person asked the writer if a fish can cry and he replied to her that it can. i dont have a picture, but you can go on the sportfishing website and find it. maybe i'll scan it and post it. gime some times.

Errr, I doubt that I would listen to Sportfishing Mag on the biological abilities or lack thereof to cry... People too often apply a fish to their own conceptions of things and in the case the biolgists don't even know...

If they do feel pain, in the sense that we do, why do they dig up in rocky and sandy areas for food?

[Scotch Bonnet]

Swallowing a live 2lb lobster would make me cry.

[MakoMike]

Notaro,
Go read that bit in Sportfishing, it was a spoof!

[fishweewee]

Lemme tell ya ... sometimes fish make ME cry.

[macojoe]

Just the thoughtof how much money I spend makes me cry. So I hope they do feel pain because I feel it evry time I go to the boat ramp

[Jimbo]

My response would be that the PETA People who are on the verge of saying that “fish are people too” are correct, fish feel pain, but they leave out one vitally important fact when they encourage people not to fish, and this is the premise that each fish is an individual who makes a well thought out and conscious effort to bite the hook or lure knowing it will inflict pain. This decision may be based on several factors. First, like many humans, that particular fish might simply enjoy the rush and the pain just like a human accepting to be tattooed, branded, pierced or otherwise corporally punished. Maybe the fish has masochistic tendencies, or maybe he was dared by his [so called] friends-“Yo, Tommy Trout, I give ya five clams ta go bite that Wooley Bugger.”
Perhaps the fish is part of the roving gangs that swim around looking for nice pretty new lures to set upon by frenzied fish “wilding” in the currents, as I’m sure most of us have seen schools of bluefish do; waiting for just the right opportunity to impress his friends by savagely attacking an innocent, nubile lure passing by, then disappearing into the crowd so as not to be identified. Do all bluefish behave like this? I really doubt it. I doubt their parents know what kind of fish they really are.
Now, if gangs of predatory fish are a possibility, who is to say there’s not a whole underocean of mafiosa vertebrates extorting the chubs and killies who are just trying to eek out a living on algae and grass shrimp, and who is to say, or not, that if Sammie da SeaBass moves to a new rockpile occupied primarily by the Tautoglias, that the Godfishfather doesn’t issue an edict like, “Yo Sammie, you have shamed the Tautoglia family and all the bottom dwellers, the Scuponas, the Codleones, even the Basszinis and so now you must make amends and sleep with the humans. Take da hook, Paulie!” And of course he really has no other choice. Yet another example of a fish’s own resolution to accept the pain he would but inflict upon himself. If this weren’t the case, then all fish would be biting the first hook that came into sight and fishermen would never leave the dock nor spend countless hours in pursuit of a finned victim in the market to take a sharp barb to the lips. Fish feel pain. Some show they actually enjoy it by biting our hooks, for a variety of reasons. PETA certainly can't blame us for that!

[Fishpart]

I agree with Jimbo.

[jugstah]

I'm with Maco Joe. I feel it every time, but it's a good habit to have.. it gives you a better rush than coffee in the morning or a better buzz than beer in the evenings.. pick your poison.

[redcrbbr]

I hear millions of painful cries and screams every time i mow the lawn

[striperondafly]

No way - I've caught the same fish within 5 mins before. If they were that hurtin they wouldnt bite again that quick - my 2 cents

[bluzjamer]

Ok...my $.02
I feel pain everytime I go home without a hit, so even if they do feel pain....I feel it more often. Also I have to endure the absive wife when I come home without a keeper for the grill.
Bluz

[Basstime]

Of course they feel pain. They got lips!!

[jugstah]

Whaddayaknow..

My wallet feels the pain every time I fill up my SUV, and I go fishing, and don't have tight lines.

[JohnR]

Originally posted by redcrbbr
I hear millions of painful cries and screams every time i mow the lawn

I get a halfa million screams based on the bare spots on my lawn...

[Sweetieface]

You guys are nuts!!! i am practically ROLLING on the floor over these responses!!!
Here I am, all worried about hurting these fish now, and I've almost got tears in my eyes!!!!
Thanks for making this seem less serious!

PS: Keeper for the grill??? Who's got good ideas for grilled striper? What do I put on it to make it yummy?!!!

[Mr. Sandman]

LOL!! FISH CANNOT FEEL PAIN. They don't have the nervous system and brain stem to feel pain. Their eyes may tear...you may call it crying but it isn’t because of pain. They have instincts and react to certain things but they cannot feel pain. This is non-science.

I have spoken to more then one neurologist about this over the years and all them said...It is IMPOSSIBLE for FISH to feel pain ...they just don't have the nervous system to do so.

It irritates me to see crap news reports such as I heard the other day on this subject and this bogus science that people actually believe.

ANytime you see "The findings were welcomed by animal rights activists. "beware

[Slipknot]

If they could feel pain, they sure wouldn't want to live in the harsh enviroment that they do and eat the stuff that they do. I don't know about you(or Crazy Al) but I would never be eating live crabs and lobsters, and how must the dorsal fins feel from scup and so on.............

gimme a break

[JohnR]

Here ya go - for the grille: http://www.striped-bass.com/recipes.shtml

Mr Sandman - never heard that before but very very interesting!

[BigFish]

Do fish feel pain? My 2 cents is yes. But if you
really want to find out, next time you catch a fish and ask them.

[Van]

Ok here's my take on this.

I don't care if they do or not.

My ancestors didn't fight their way to the top of the food chain so that I would eat only veggies,, cause fish feel pain.

[schoolie monster]

That's it, I quit fishing. I can't look at myself in the mirror if I hurt another creature.

You know, I take as good of care of fish as anyone... I rarely kill a fish and I feel bad when I gut hook or gill hook or foul hook a fish, but you gotta draw the line somewhere.

I'm sure cows don't appreciate getting slashed into steaks... I doubt mosquitos like when I squish 'em... and like someone said, grass probably dreads getting chopped in half every weekend during the summer.

I'm sure fish detect injuries and and their system processes the info, but its all stimuli and reaction. There is no emotion and the second you let them go, they move on. Or if you eat them, you know, they go up to fishy-heaven.

[Fish_n_Dive]

hey schoolie monster can i have your stuff if your quitting

also, think about how much more hunting hurts. i meen come on getting shot is worst that getting hooked.!!!! i rather have a small hole in my mouth than a gaping on in my chest.
of course i dont want either so...