You got to read this

[ImACoolguy]

I watch my fish everyday and love them to death and wonder if they can love me back. I definitely feel the love from my dojo loaches and bettas. They greet me at the front of the tank every day eagerly wanting food and acting silly. My Jack Dempsey does this as well.

There has been a debate for quite sometime though as to whether or not fish can feel pain though.

I found this article, let me just say I can't verify the websites credibility, but it was a great read.

Do fish have feelings too? It's a slippery question for science | Daily Mail Online

After being in this hobby for a good amount of time and having my fair share of lost fish I am a believer that feel can suffer and do feel pain. They can also feel joy when their owner comes to the tank or during feeding time. That's my opinion.

What do you guys think?

Before commenting: let's not turn this into a heated debate. Be kind and respectful when answering. I've seen too many threads taken down because of heated arguments.


Caleb

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[shellyx]

I've often wondered this as well. My elephant nose is very interactive with me but doesn't bother with anyone else. If I go to the tank he'll always come out to see me, and if my hand's go into the tank he swims around them and let's me pet him.
On pain I'm not sure, when my guy hurts himself I wonder if he's in pain, everyone else thinks I'm just mad Lol
Lesley

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[Mattfinn]

Yes I do believe fish have feelings and emotion. If you've ever watched a stressed fish or one that gets bullied you'd be able to see that they can feel pain.

My rams, betta and killis all love to come and say hey. The killis especially they look at me like puppy's and they're so photogenic I can't help myself. I do feel bad because I give them more attention then my betta but he's still gets a bit. Got shunned a bit I guess for eating some RCS.

 

[shellyx]

Yes I do believe fish have feelings and emotion. If you've ever watched a stressed fish or one that gets bullied you'd be able to see that they can feel pain.

My rams, betta and killis all love to come and say hey. The killis especially they look at me like puppy's and they're so photogenic I can't help myself. I do feel bad because I give them more attention then my betta but he's still gets a bit. Got shunned a bit I guess for eating some RCS.

I never thought about when the fish was getting bullied, I've seen that happen a lot in my tank (until I realised my fish needed to be on his own ) and yes your right they become stressed. So I definitely agree they do have emotions.

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon vampire shrimp, green lace shrimp and snails.

 

[FWFishTanks]

I'm a big fisherman myself, but I do believe what they are saying in the article. Don't gang up me now...

 

[FishayFishay]

Didn't read the article yet but I'll give some input. I think of my fish as my friends and not because Finding Nemo said so. My white skirts always come up to say hey to me when I walk past and I know mostly it's for more and more food but it still gives me a warm feeling knowing that they really notice me and knows who's the one that takes care of them. They're little monsters but they're my little monsters. Just got a bristlenose Pleco the other day and he's shyer than I'd want but it's alright. That's just his nature. I love my fish and I think they do have feelings.

 

[FishayFishay]

And on top of that, I've seen some fish in the past act a completely different way if one of their tank mates has passed or isn't around for some reason. It's actually quite neat to see that.

 

[sinibotia]

I'm a big fisherman myself, but I do believe what they are saying in the article. Don't gang up me now...

I'm a fisherman as well. So if they gang up on you they'll gang up on me too. Fish can feel pain, I'm positive, but are also quite resilient to it. Good fishing practices (not extending fights, using barbless hooks, avoiding treble hooks, etc) will significantly reduce the pain they feel. And finally, the recreational fishing industry is one of the greatest conservation forces in existence. Nothing gets people to care about the natural world like experiencing it, and fishing is one of the best ways to experience nature, and one of the only ways that allows you to interact safely with wild animals. Fishing is part of what inspired me to be a marine scientist.

If it weren't finals season I would flood this thread with empirical research, but I'm too busy writing a bajillion papers. If this thread is still relevant in a week I'll come back and throw some science around. Long story short though the article is absolutely correct.

 

[FWFishTanks]

I'm a fisherman as well. So if they gang up on you they'll gang up on me too. Fish can feel pain, I'm positive, but are also quite resilient to it. Good fishing practices (not extending fights, using barbless hooks, avoiding treble hooks, etc) will significantly reduce the pain they feel. And finally, the recreational fishing industry is one of the greatest conservation forces in existence. Nothing gets people to care about the natural world like experiencing it, and fishing is one of the best ways to experience nature, and one of the only ways that allows you to interact safely with wild animals. Fishing is part of what inspired me to be a marine scientist.

If it weren't finals season I would flood this thread with empirical research, but I'm too busy writing a bajillion papers. If this thread is still relevant in a week I'll come back and throw some science around. Long story short though the article is absolutely correct.

Fishing is what got me into aquariums so thank you fishing. All of what you said is how I see it too, as long as you reduce pain and don't intentionally hurt the fish it is perfectly fine to wet a line here and there.

 

[ImACoolguy]

These are better replies than I expected lol.

I've fished on my lake with my dad for years. I've never thought of the treble hook idea though...

And now this summer when my dad stabs into a fish to gut it for the meat I'm going to cringe every time.


Caleb

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[sinibotia]

These are better replies than I expected lol.

I've fished on my lake with my dad for years. I've never thought of the treble hook idea though...

And now this summer when my dad stabs into a fish to gut it for the meat I'm going to cringe every time.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

There are ways to do it painlessly. In the lab I work in, when we're transporting fish for field research and we need to euthanize an individual for whatever reason- we smack it really hard on the head with a wrench. It kinda sucks, but it's the approved method. They don't feel it.

Oops, now I'm REALLY gonna get crucified. Yeah, lab work gets dirty sometimes. Especially field work.

 

[PassengerTN]

I grew up running trot lines baited with live goldfish on the Wolf River near Memphis. We would catch catfish well over 3ft regularly. Never bothered me much. Its sporting, and nothing goes to waste. Fishing is no different than any other hunting done. Weather its catch & release, or take home for food

 

[ImACoolguy]

I grew up running trot lines baited with live goldfish on the Wolf River near Memphis. We would catch catfish well over 3ft regularly. Never bothered me much. Its sporting, and nothing goes to waste. Fishing is no different than any other hunting done. Weather its catch & release, or take home for food

Exactly. Circle of life.

Be right back I'm preparing the crucifixion


Caleb

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[Brookster123]

I grew up running trot lines baited with live goldfish on the Wolf River near Memphis. We would catch catfish well over 3ft regularly. Never bothered me much. Its sporting, and nothing goes to waste. Fishing is no different than any other hunting done. Weather its catch & release, or take home for food

So you were introducing goldfish to a river system? Nice?? Staying out of this convo though same thread last year was a tad bit different...

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[sinibotia]

Ehh, I tend not to use live bait anymore unless I have to. Sometimes I'll use live worms, and ice fishing I'll use minnows, but otherwise I always use cut bait or lures. Lures are just much more sporting. Makes it feel a little more fair to me. And cut bait is for stuff like catfish and eels that won't go for lures- although I don't think I can even bring myself to fish for eels now that they're listed as endangered by IUCN. They're pretty tasty so it's a real bummer.

So you were introducing goldfish to a river system? Nice?? Staying out of this convo though same thread last year was a tad bit different...

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I think I can imagine what happened. I'm glad this is going amicably.

 

[PassengerTN]

So you were introducing goldfish to a river system? Nice?? Staying out of this convo though same thread last year was a tad bit different...

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Goldfish were never released into the river. They were hooked and used as bait. Live bait is a common practice

 

[sinibotia]

Goldfish were never released into the river. They were hooked and used as bait. Live bait is a common practice

Yeah but they can escape the hook, survive and become established. Source? It's happened all over the place in Maine. They've actually restricted the kinds of fish that can be used as bait as a result.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Worms are one of the few living things I feel little remorse for..

I feed them to my ropefish every day and use them as bait for fishing.


Caleb

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[PassengerTN]

If you can escape a hook ran down the throat and out the gut, you deserve to flourish in the environment you were put into (hah!). Granted that's been 20 years ago, I still do not recall ever coming across a goldfish swimming in that river. Even to this day I have never seen it. Whether it was us, or one of the hundreds of other fisherman doing the same thing. Plenty of predators in the water way that will make quick work of a bleeding injured fish within minutes.

 

[sinibotia]

If you can escape a hook ran down the throat and out the gut, you deserve to flourish in the environment you were put into (hah!). Granted that's been 20 years ago, I still do not recall ever coming across a goldfish swimming in that river. Even to this day I have never seen it. Whether it was us, or one of the hundreds of other fisherman doing the same thing. Plenty of predators in the water way that will make quick work of a bleeding injured fish within minutes.

That's only if you hook them like that. Most people I know hook them through the lip or through the back just below the dorsal fin. Both methods are survivable.