Fish Pain?

[s2h]

Do fish feel pain when they are hooked? I searched it on the internet and there are studies that say yes and ones that say no. I personally dont think they do when hooked in the lip. But wonder when the fish swallows the hook, if it hurts them or not.

[CrowRiverRat83]

I believe they do feel pain, especially when hooked deep. Ive had a lot of deep hooked fish thrash like crazy as soon as you grab the hook to try and free it.

[The Grebe]

Probably does hurt....but not on a level like we experience and identify pain. Most wild things have a way different pain system then what we have.

They are moving and living in a whole different world, far removed from ours and their nervous systems are way different!

How the wild things would equate pain, I don't profess to know, but I do know this, I don't clean live fish if I can help it. I let the live ones sit in the fridge until the next day and then clean em, or sometimes if I'm limited on time and have to do it right away, I rap em in the head a few times until they go stiff and start to quiver and as soon as I'm done filleting, I break their backbone just behind the head to make sure.

The experts would probably know if fish feel the pain....you know, the people that have never fished a day in their lives and have no actual hands on experience in the field....they would know. They always know....they'er experts. Now if you can find an expert.....

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

Ask PETA

[goblueM]

pretty sure they feel pain. otherwise how would they fight so hard or react when you poke em with a knife?

Pain is a tool to let an animal know that damage might be occuring to tissue/organs

[broken_line]

im sure they do.. like previously said if a bear tried to eat you while sleeping and you couldnt feel pain you would get eaten.. same with fish.. minnows freak out after being hooked..

[hondarider550]

I would have to agree with everybody else here. Im sure that fish do feel pain but maybe not on a level like we do...

[BigWadeS]

they probably do, but who cares, I mean as long as everyone uses sharp pointy hooks to catch them no one will change that

[WyoChris]

your opening a can of worms..... you would think fish feel pain. However, i've read about studies conducted which say they don't feel pain.

[Drewski]

It's funny though. If they do feel pain, they don't really show it. I've had bass that have hit my crankbait 3 times before finally being hooked and I've even had them hooked for a while and they still come back for more. It sure makes you think.

[JeffB]

Fish may feel pain when hooked, but not as much pain as I feel when they spit the hook out.

[shizzy]

sice Ive had both my lip and tongue pierced, I suppose I could answer this...

I would assume in the lip being its all cartalage It would not hurt not so much. Swollowed I would assume is would hurt. But yes I do think animals register pain differently.

and no having a needle shoved through my tongue or lip didnt hurt at all. a sharp needle or hook is nothing compared to a dull torn gash. How many times have you sliced your finger on something very sharp and just looked at it and didnt feel a thing? Hooked your hand on something dull that took a chunk out?? OUCH!

[mngirl]

Good point!

[ddsbyday]

No.

[Slowhand]

This largemouth species doesnt seem to be wincing....on a serious note ye they prolly do but it is different than what we conceive pain as.

Drewski, maybe the lakes you fish are full of S&M Bass thats why they keep biting .

[Burnham]

well according to peta.....just kidding

[bobbymalone]

It depends on what you want to call pain. Pain is too subjective. What I consider pain is different from what you might.

Fish don't feel pain like we feel pain, but they definitely feel something. Their nervous systems are advanced enough they some sensation that could arguably be defined as pain. It's something that is necessary for survival.

[ddsbyday]

I assure you, the young lady in your picture will not put up much of a fight. You tug on that line and that lady will go where ever you pull. WHY???? Because it hurts!!! Fish swim away--.

[kc0myy]

i think the onlt reason why fish swim away is because they don't know what is going on. i mean something is pulling them, and their away of thinking is to get away from what ever is pulling them. thats what i think.

[fishinfey8]

I don't think it is painful for fish. I don't think a fish has the mental capacity to be able to recognize the diff. b/t instinct and feeling; everything is just instinct. Instinct tells the fish that getting hooked, poked, cut, whatever is dangerous so out of instinct they thrash or jump. If they felt pain they wouldn't fight back b/c it would just hurt them more.

Maybe this is totally off, but it's just what I believe.

[leech~~]

I think that they may feel pain in all parts of their bodys. But that their boney, thin skined, mouth areas where created to be able to eat other spiny things like other fish and crayfish that could give them a little pain. If they felt it all the time, they may just go hungry then do that again?

[SkunkedAgain]

Lot's of opinions. Not much evidence being presented here...so I'll toss in mine. I don't know about the pain, but assume that most of what we see is fight-or-flight characteristics. They are smart enough to know to try swimming away from something that is trying to pull them in. When they are out of the water, they realize that something is different and try to wiggle their way back into the water.

Reasoning that they feel pain just because they flop when you pull out a hook is faulty logic. Correlation does not equal causation.

It would be good to read some actual research. I'm sure that a marine biologist could settle this whole thing quickly.

[crappieflop30]

i saw an article in i think field and stream a couple years back that had a study saying that fish lack the nervous system to register pain like we do. obviously there is a sensation that they will feel when being attacked or hooked, but it may be that it is a different sensation as others have said

[fish-a-man]

Outdoor life has an article saying Fish are incapable of feeling pain the way people experience it. "On the basis of brain anatomy," noted the scientists, " it seems highly unlikely that fish experience pain in the same manner as humans, because fish lack a neocortex, the brain structure that enables the sensation of pain in higher vertebrates."

[Jari Razskazoff]

I wonder if there is a Chuck Norris of fish?