Preface
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This briefing provides scientific evidence that fish feel pain, are sentient, and lead rich cognitive, emotional, and psychological lives. It also includes slaughter counts.
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| Key Points | 6 |
| Counterclaims | 1 |
| Advocacy Notes | 4 |
| Footnotes | 25 |
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Summary
A concise summary of the briefing (see below for citations).
Fish are sentient beings that feel pain, experience emotions, and have rich cognitive lives. Studies and experts like Marc Bekoff and Victoria Braithwaite provide strong evidence that fish perceive pain similarly to mammals and birds.
Fish exhibit complex behaviors indicating emotions and cognitive abilities, such as learning, memory, and anticipation of future events. They can experience fear and stress, showcasing their advanced neurological structures and emotional capacities.
Context
Places this topic in its larger context.
Sentience is the capacity to feel pain and experience emotions. It is significant because it serves as the criterion for determining whether living beings deserve moral consideration.
While sentient beings have differing levels of intelligence, these differences in intelligence are not morally relevant, as discussed in our briefing on animal rights.
Key Points
This section provides talking points.
Fish feel pain.
Marc Bekoff, perhaps the world’s leading cognitive ethologist, having written over 30 books and hundreds of essays on animals1, says that “fish are sentient and emotional beings and clearly feel pain.“2
An article published in the Smithsonian Magazine titled “It’s Official: Fish Feel Pain” pointed to numerous compelling studies showing strong evidence that fish feel pain.3
The American Veterinary Medical Association, which in no way could be considered an animal rights organization because of its close ties with the animal agriculture industry4, said that “finfish should be accorded the same considerations as terrestrial vertebrates in regard to relief from pain.”5
According to Victoria Braithwaite, professor of Fisheries and Biology at Penn State University, fish do feel pain. She also stated that “Fish, like birds and mammals, have a capacity for self-awareness.”6
According to Donald Broom, Emeritus Professor of Animal Welfare at the University of Cambridge, “the evidence of pain system and fear system function in fish is so similar to that in humans and other mammals that it is not logical to conclude that fish cannot feel pain.””7
Marquette Natural Sciences professor Culum Brown and coauthor of the book Fish Cognition and Behavior8, says that “fish experience pain in a manner similar to the rest of the vertebrates.”9
Fish display emotions.
Marc Bekoff, perhaps the world’s leading cognitive ethologist, having written over 30 books and hundreds of essays on animal behavior, says that “fish are sentient and emotional beings and clearly feel pain.”10
Ethologist Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, in one of his 6 books on animal behavior, What a Fish Knows, shows overwhelming evidence that fish are intelligent, feel pain, display emotions, and have many of the other characteristics of the land animals we use for food. 11
Fish cognition can match or exceed other vertebrates.
Fish have a sense of themselves and a sense of the future.
Victoria Braithwaite, professor of Fisheries and Biology at Penn State University, says that “fish, like birds and mammals, have some capacity for self-awareness.” 14
Fish avoid areas where they have previously had negative experiences, showing that they are able to anticipate the same thing happening in the future15
Fish can experience fear and stress.
A scientific panel commissioned by the European Commission concluded:
- Fish are able to experience fear, pointing out that fear is useful for defense and escape.
- The stress physiology of fish is “directly comparable to that of higher vertebrates.”
- When exposure to stress is prolonged, it can become chronic and affect the immune system and growth, and may even cause death.16
Fish have long-term memory and can learn.
A paper published in the Fish and Fisheries Journal identified several studies showing that fish learn skills from one another, including:
- predator avoidance,
- migration routes,
- food location,
- eavesdropping,
- and how to choose a mate.17
Common carp remember and learn from a hooking experience for 14 months, helping them to avoid a repeat experience.18
The ability to learn shows that fish possess and use long-term memory.19
Counterclaims
Responses to some yes but retorts.
Claim: Because fish lack a neocortex, they are incapable of suffering.
Birds and amphibians are known to suffer and feel pain despite not having a neocortex. As a result, it is not reasonable to conclude that fish do not experience pain or suffering based on their brain structure.20
Though the brain structure of fish differs from that of mammals, it performs similar functions. Fish possess both an amygdala and a hippocampus, regions of the brain that deal with learning, emotion, and memory.21
Supplementary Info
Additional information that may prove useful.
Further Study
Sources providing a deeper understanding of the topic or related topics.
Other Resources
The website Fish Feel educates the public about fish intelligence and emotional capacity, advocates for their welfare, and raises awareness about the exploitation of fish in various industries.
The Smithsonian Magazine article, “It’s Official: Fish Feel Pain.” presents the scientific evidence that fish can feel pain and discusses the potential ethical implications of this understanding
The Youtube Video “What Fish Feel When They Are Killed for Food” presents evidence and arguments supporting the idea that fish can feel pain, challenging the common belief that they cannot, and explores the ethical implications of this understanding for how we treat fish.
The Youtube video “The VET Talks – Can Fish Feel Pain?” presents scientific evidence that fish have the necessary neurological structures and exhibit behaviors indicating they can experience pain. The presentation is by Dr. Lysa Posner, DVM, DACVAA, Associate Professor of Anesthesiology – North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (Raleigh, NC, USA).
Advocacy Resources
Information to help with outreach and advocacy.
Additional media and advocacy resources are on the way, though not every briefing will feature every type of media.
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Advocacy Notes
Tips for Advocacy and Outreach
Note: We intentionally use credentialed expert testimony throughout this briefing instead of experiments because they carry substantial weight. Consider doing the same in your conversations.
Whenever you mention cows, pigs, and chickens as subjects of exploitation, try and remember to add fish to that list.
If someone accepts that fish are sentient and worthy of moral consideration, then it will likely follow for them that other vertebrates such as pigs, cows, and chickens are also sentient.
As always, if you are asked for the sources and can’t be specific, then say they’re from various studies and the citations are available at the vbriefings.org post on fish sentience.
Footnotes
Our sources, with links back to where they’re used.
- Ahmad, Qirrat. “Every Life Matters.” Earth Island Journal, 2018. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024. ↩︎
- Bekoff, Marc. “Fish Are Sentient and Emotional Beings and Clearly Feel Pain.” Psychology Today, June 19, 2014. ↩︎
- Ferris Jabr and Hakai Magazine. “It’s Official: Fish Feel Pain.” January 8, 2018. Smithsonian Magazine. ↩︎
- “Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee.” American Veterinary Medical Association, 2024. Accessed 13 Nov. 2024. ↩︎
- Leary, Steven L, and American Veterinary Medical Association. “AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2020 Edition.” 2020. ↩︎
- Braithwaite, Victoria. Do Fish Feel Pain? Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 183, 134-35. ↩︎
- Broom, Donald. “Fish Brains and Behaviour Indicate Capacity for Feeling Pain.” Animal Sentience Journal. 2016. ↩︎
- Culum Brown, Kevin Laland, and Jens Krause. Fish Cognition and Behavior, 2nd Edition. Wiley Publishing, 2011 ↩︎
- Brown C. Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics. Anim Cogn. 2015 Jan;18(1):1-17. Epub 2014 Jun 19. PMID: 24942105 ↩︎
- Bekoff, Marc. “Fish Are Sentient and Emotional Beings and Clearly Feel Pain.” Psychology Today, June 19, 2014. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animal-emotions/201406/fish-are-sentient-and-emotional-beings-and-clearly-feel-pain ↩︎
- Balcombe, Jonathan. What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins. Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016. 74. ↩︎
- Culum Brown, Kevin Laland, and Jens Krause. Fish Cognition and Behavior, 2nd Edition. Wiley Publishing, 2011 ↩︎
- Brown, C. Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics. Anim Cogn. 2015 Jan;18(1):1-17. Epub 2014 Jun 19. PMID: 24942105 ↩︎
- Braithwaite, Victoria. Do Fish Feel Pain? Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 134-135 ↩︎
- Csányi, Vilmos, and Antal Dóka. “Learning Interactions between Prey and Predator Fish.” Marine Behavior and Physiology 23, no. 1–4 (October 1993): 63–78. ↩︎
- Algers, Bo et al. “General Approach to Fish Welfare and to the Concept of Sentience in Fish.” EFSA Journal 7, no. 2 (2009). ↩︎
- Brown, Culum, and Kevin N. Laland. “Social Learning in Fishes: A Review.” Fish and Fisheries 4, no. 3 (September 2003): 280–88. ↩︎
- Czapla, Philipp. “Long-Term Hook Avoidance of Common Carp (Cyprinus Carpio) as a Function of Private and Social Cues | Ifishman.de.” Ifishman.de, 2021. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024. ↩︎
- Odling-Smee, Lucy, and Victoria A Braithwaite. “The Role of Learning in Fish Orientation.” Fish and Fisheries 4, no. 3 (September 2003): 235–46. ↩︎
- Cooke, Steven J., and Lynne U. Sneddon. “Animal Welfare Perspectives on Recreational Angling.” Applied Animal Behavior Science 104, no. 3–4 (May 2007): 176–98. ↩︎
- Stockinger, Günther. “The Hook That Hurts: Scientists Tip the Scales Against Anglers.” Spiegel Online, March 11, 2011, sec. International ↩︎
- Estimated numbers of individuals in annual global capture tonnage via FAO FishStat “Capture Production 1950-2016” (Release Date: 15th March 2018) ↩︎
- Sept 2019. A Mood and P Brook. Estimated numbers of individuals in global aquaculture production. (FAO) Sept 2019. ↩︎
- Estimated numbers of individuals in average annual fish capture (FAO) by country fishing fleets from FAO FishStat “Capture Production 1950-2016. 15th March 2018”. ↩︎
- A Mood and P Brooke. Estimated numbers of individuals in aquaculture production of fish species. (FAO). Sept 2019 ↩︎
