Do Fish Feel Pain

[Guest]

This has been a hot topic on many forums lately and just wanted to see what everyone's opinions are.

[Guest]

Yes, I do beleive fish feel pain....I think all of God's creatures feel pain, at least in some sort of physical sense. Will that prevent me from really setting that hook on a big blue or channel cat? HELL NO! As much as we strive to be humane and gentle, yes, i beleive they feel pain. And as hard as a fish can be to understand and catch, they are still just.....well,....fish. FISH ON!!!!!

[stony 0]

They don't feel pain like you and I or our pets. They aren't advanced enough to feel it the way we do.

 

They feel discomfort in the sense of "what the heck is in my mouth and why is it pulling me?" "Get away, Get away"

[Faster Fish 0]

They don't feel pain like you and I or our pets. They aren't advanced enough to feel it the way we do.

 

They feel discomfort in the sense of "what the heck is in my mouth and why is it pulling me?" "Get away, Get away"

 

I have to agree with stony. Its like when a duck can et frozen to a lake. The feel discomfor but not pain like us.

 

Randy

[Joe Hard 0]

I believe fish feel pain or there would be no defense systems like sharp fins, claws colours and omitted poisons. I have read the reports from the fly mags from "the experts" Some saying that fish do not have the "pain receiving " part in there brain. Others say they do. I think the "experts' that say fish do not feel pain were paid big bucks to say this. If sport or commercial fishing due to cruelty were to be banned. Not only would there be a huge up roar from the countless recreational fishing associations, organizations and there related affiliates world wide. The loss of business and the generated income would be devastating. If commercial fishing were to be banned due to cruelty, I believe the world economy would collapse, and many people would starve.

 

I think that catching a fish with a hook in mouth is probably the most humane method. The majority of fish use there mouths like we use our hands. To feel and inspect things. Our hands can withstand more abuse than other sensitive areas of our bodies. A fishes mouth is much the same.

 

 

[Redwings1 0]

I am going to go another route and say no...certainly not in he same way we do; I think that the reaction of a fish fighting is some sort of proof of that. Let me hook you through the finger and see what you do...run around wildly trying to get away or go the direction that causes less pain. I think that the fish fighting is a mechanism of eons of evolution to be a survivalist in tough conditions. I think the fish tries to go the other way as it knows, without knowing why, that it is in danger. I know that it has been shown that a recently hooked fish can in cases take longer to get back to eating; I attribute this not to a sore mouth, but perhaps to a reaction to stress or to the fish learning that food can be dangerous.

 

EDIT: WHOA...I HAD THOUGHT WE HAD A HUBBARD SIGHTING, BUT THIS IS JUST ONE OLD RESURECCTED THREAD! STONY'S BEEN DIGGING

[Alex C. 0]

I believe whatever Nirvana lyrics tell me to

 

"It's okay to eat fish, cause they don't have any feelings"

Something in the Way

[Guest]

Wow, this one is over three years old! :bugeyes:

[Steeldrifter 0]

HOLY MOLY stony got out the pick axe and shovel to find this thread :hyst:

 

 

 

Plain and simple- Anyone ever been biten by a hellgramite or pinched by a 4" long crawdad? now ask yourself, if you felt pain (in the way humans do) would you put ethier one of those in your mouth and swallow it?

[Alex C. 0]

would you put ethier one of those in your mouth and swallow it?

 

I've been known to do dummer things

[Steeldrifter 0]

True, but I bet at the time you were feeling no pain :drunk:

[Joe Hard 0]

HOLY MOLY stony got out the pick axe and shovel to find this thread :hyst:

 

 

 

Plain and simple- Anyone ever been biten by a hellgramite or pinched by a 4" long crawdad? now ask yourself, if you felt pain (in the way humans do) would you put ethier one of those in your mouth and swallow it?

 

 

I saw a show one time, where commercial fishermen were throwing lobsters that were undersized over board. They filmed the lobsters as the were descending to the bottom. There was a school of stripers in the area and they picked up on the "free meals". The film crew spotted one lobster on bottom in defensive position. It was surrounded by stripers. The stripers would slowly pick at the legs of the lobster from the back or side, tearing them off. They would not go any where near the claws and were interested in it as food but very weary at the same time. After a few legs were torn off, and the lobster, lifted of bottom and rolling to its side, it was attacked. It showed a frenzy of schoolies tearing legs and 2 larger fish coming in from nowhere bowth snapping at the tail of the lobster. One snapped the lobster in half swimming away with the tail, at the same time another came in grabbing the forward section. One claw broke off, and the other was shook off. The schoolies cleaned up on the legs and shook of smaller claw, but the larger claw sank to bottom. There were pieces of lobster floating around and engulfed until nothing was left but tiny pieces, like a cloud. Fish were coming in and out of the view of the camera, then there was nothing but the larger claw on bottom. It focused on the claw for a bit and showed a couple fish inspect it, but none would touch it.

 

In the same show it showed how several strippers attacked bait. They grabbed the fish right behind the gills to suffocate it. Swam away with it then spit the fish out and swallowed it head first. The show explained that this was done to avoid the sharp dorsal fin. I dont think we are capable of understanding how or what a fish thinks or feels. I also think that fish or other wild animals have to survive and that pain is not such a big factor as survival.

 

If you have ever caught a striper, smallmouth bass, pan fish or simmilar one thing you learn is to be very weary of there dorsal fin. These types of fish when caught, will sometimes, flare there dorsal out. They do this as a defense and know that it hurts predators.

[Steeldrifter 0]

Smallmouth completely inhale a live crawdad so its not that I dont believe fish are weary of the claws on a lobster (I'm sure they learn to be) but thats not the case for all species. I fished live crawdads for many years and would watch a smallmouth come up and completly inhale a live hard crawdad. Sure they try to take it tail first because ithey know crawdads swim backwards so insticts tells them thats the easiest way. But I'm sure the live "dad" doesnt go down without a fight and will pinch the fishes mouth and intestines before he completely sufficats. So if they did feel pain like you or I then they certialy would leave crawdads alone and only eat worms and minnow and other deffensless prey.

 

The dorsal fin on fish is a design from nature that is a deffense to keep from being swallowed. It's not used to "hurt" predators as you suggested. If you look at the dorsal fin of a bass or any other fish you will see it lays down flat towards the rear and when its flared out its still angled towards the rear. Thats a part of the evolution of deffense to keep that fish from being swallowed. If a fish attacked a smaller fish from the rear and tried to swallow it then the rearward angle of the dorsal fin would prevent the smaller fish from going down the larger fishes gullet. That is why most fish attack smaller prey head first so they can swallow it. Kelly Galloup goes into this in detal in his streamer fishing DVD.

[stony 0]

HOLY MOLY stony got out the pick axe and shovel to find this thread :hyst:

 

I was actually looking at who was online and a guest was reading it. I popped it open and noticed that there was only one response.

 

Had to add my 2 cents. :headbang:

 

[oatka 0]

I'll tell you what I tell everyone that asks me this question.....

 

 

I've never had a fish tell me it hurt!

 

 

Fish On!