What is Pain to a Fish? An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati, Gentle World
June 2012

...the way humans readily project their emotions and intentions into some animals and not others is itself a cause for concern. Few people have much fellow feeling for fish even though many fish are long-lived, have complicated nervous systems and are capable of learning complicated tasks.
—Professor Patrick Bateson, Professor of Ethology
University of Cambridge

From salmon making the long journey from river to ocean and back, to goldfish swimming circles around a small pond, the inner lives of fishes are a mystery that scientists are only beginning to unravel. One of the key elements they are searching for is the extent to which each fish is sentient or, more specifically, how they process what we would call a “painful” sensation (such as a hook cutting into their lip.)

On this journey, scientists have discovered that fish have nerve structures that are anatomically very similar to those of humans and many other species of animals. Among these common structures are receptor cells called nociceptors, which are found throughout animals’ bodies and are activated by stimuli expected to cause damage to bodily tissues. Tellingly, some species of fish have upwards of 58 different nociceptors located in their lips alone*.

As in human anatomy, these nociceptors are wired by nerve fibers to the central nervous system (the spinal cord and brain.) When the pain centers in the brain are activated by signals from the nociceptors, they trigger the body to respond to the potentially harmful or life threatening events that may be happening.

Fish anatomy is so complex that they have even evolved the same “pain-blocking” substances (endorphins) as humans.** It is theorized that endorphins help animals to tolerate pain from severe injuries in order to help them escape from a predator. This leaves us with the question: Why would fish have endorphins in their bodies if they couldn’t feel pain? And why is there still a debate over their sentience? Physiologist Lynne Sneddon discovered 58 different nociceptor sites in rainbow trout lips. Endorphins are akin to naturally occurring morphine, although their role in the body is more complex. It is also worth mentioning that some analgesic drugs used by humans also appear to reduce pain in fish.

In the scientific world, the line between simply reacting to negative stimuli and “feeling pain” is marked by the capacity to process and express emotions. “Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” - The International Association for the Study of Pain

Thus, one of the main arguments scientists use against fish feeling pain is that their brains lack certain structural elements, most importantly the neocortex, which, in other animals such as humans, processes negative stimuli into emotions. The second common argument is that their amygdoid complex (similar to our amygdala which helps us process emotions) is wired to produce aggression and not fear. The reason this is important to our sense of “feeling pain” is because our pain response also comes with a negative emotional reaction which in turn excites the amygdala and helps form a memory of the damage done to our bodies by a particular stimulus.

As you can see, in any species of animal, the concept of feeling pain is a complex one. What scientists are really trying to prove is not only that fish sense the negative stimuli damaging their bodies, but also despite the differences between their brains and ours, that they also have the capacity to associate emotions with the damage done.

To these ends, scientists have continued to experiment on fish, dissecting and torturing these often-gentle creatures. While a number of these callous experiments have offered proof that fish do feel pain, by documenting their capacity to remember painful experiences and demonstrate “fearful, avoidance behavior” (avoidance of food, rocking behavior, grunting) and other such signs of their emotional reactions to “pain”; these findings were gained through electrocuting goldfish, injecting bee venom into trout’s lips and dropping fish into hot water among other such barbaric methods.

Why is it that we continue to go to such heartless extremes to prove a fish’s sentience when anyone who has gone fishing can attest to how hard each fish struggles against the hook it has unwittingly bitten into and how vehemently their bodies continue to fight even as they slowly suffocate on land.

Perhaps it is not the way in which fish process pain that is in question, but rather our own ability to empathize with them. While it is easier for us to recognize our own expressions of fear, love and pain reflected in such species as dogs, primates and felines, this does not give us the right to needlessly kill or harm animals whose inner lives are a mystery to us. (Many people include fish in their diets under the mistaken belief that they provide nutrients that aren’t readily available elsewhere, such as DHA. The truth is, while the human body does have specific nutrient requirements, we can fulfill these needs easily and more healthfully without including fish or any other animal products in our diets. If you are concerned about essential fatty acids, there are plenty available in fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds - especially flax seeds, and if you want “healthy protein” look no further than the produce section.)

Quotes:

Fish constitute the greatest source of confused thinking and inconsistency on earth at the moment with respect to pain. You will get people very excited about dolphins because they are mammals, and about horses and dogs, if they are not treated properly. At the same time you will have fishing competitions on the River Murray at which thousands of people snare fish with hooks and allow them to asphyxiate on the banks, which is a fairly uncomfortable and miserable death.
—Professor Bill Runciman,
Professor of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
Adelaide University

Fish are no mere reflex-automatons, but animals capable of experiencing pain and fear and influenced [behaviorally] by experience, expectancies and motivational state in a manner analogous to that in higher animals up to man.
—Dr R. Buwalda
Institute of Comparative Physiological Studies
Utrecht (Netherlands)

Even though fish don’t scream [audibly to humans] when they are in pain and anguish, their behavior should be evidence enough of their suffering when they are hooked or netted. They struggle, endeavoring to escape and, by so doing, demonstrate they have a will to survive.
- Dr. Michael Fox, D.V.M., Ph.D.

The scientific literature is quite clear. Anatomically, physiologically and biologically, the pain system in fish is virtually the same as in birds and mammals.
- Dr. Donald Broom, a scientific advisor to the British government.

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