New York Times: Fish Do Feel Pain

According to an op-ed in The New York Times, fish do indeed
feel pain. The piece discusses fish intelligence, self-recognition, love, and
other feelings, including pain.

How do we know fish are intelligent? For one, they work in
groups and even utilize tools, such as stones, to help them during feeding.

We also know they enjoy being petted: “Friendly groupers
swim up to divers to receive strokes, and moray eels will cuddle with trusted
divers.

Additionally, the op-ed highlights a recent study conducted in
Australia that revealed fish panic and go into shock when confined to small
spaces. The author observes:

If temporary confinement to a small
bucket traumatizes a fish, think what it feels like to be caught. Every year,
an estimated half trillion fishes — lined up end to end, they would reach the
sun — are hauled up from their habitat. They die by suffocation and crushing in
order to provide food for us, our pets and livestock, and even for the fishes
we farm. That, or we toss them back, usually dead or dying, as unwanted
bycatch.

Whether they’re farmed or caught, fish are capable of feeling
pain and fear much like land animals. Not only is killing them for food
unnecessary; it’s inhumane, unsustainable,
and unhealthy.

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