rik1471

Anybody changed their opinions on fishing in light of this new scientific evidence?

CarpetCleaner

do Lobsters feel pain when cooked alive in boiling water?

Dream Weaver

No its still a boring "sport" if you can call it that

fast bloke

Maybe the fishermen should use Tequila worms. Save the fish from the psychological damage they have been suffering

DW - How can you say that It must be a sport - you gets loads of fresh air. (I have to admit - that Marlin fishing caper looks like hard work)

GaryK

Its about time these f**king egg heads who sit around in a lab all day do something constructive like cancer research rather than f**king $hit like this, unbelievable!!!!

ProperCharlie

I've always thought that fish could feel pain. That's why they fight when they get hooked. When you are holding a fish trying to get the hook out of its mouth, you can feel it wriggle about if you accidentally hurt it. OTOH, once you let them go them swim off and go about their business, after a bit of rest. I love fly fishing and as far as I am concerned, a bit of pain on the fish's part is just tough luck. If they are a good size they get a bosh on the head with a rock and into the frying pan for tea. Life's a bitch, huh?

C h a z

What Gary Said

Franx

Aye, but surely they're just wriggling to try and get off the hook. I imagine you'd do the same if something had hold of you by the mouth, or the leg or something, even if it didn't hurt. Maybe they just don't like being caught...
And I haven't a clue whether they feel pain or not...

Nick VR4

IMHO fish caught in a hugh net and dragged along the sea bed with loads of other fish crabs etc is more distressing than having a hook in the lip (yeah I fish)
I dont know if they feel pain or just want to get free

Its about time some of the scientits did something meaning full like finding out if cutting the grass gives worms a headache

unclebuck

fishing sucks. It's for the unemployed.

Franx

Or whether they feel pain when you slice them in half with a spade, and grow back as two worms..

Claudius

How is this new? Fish feel pain, so do other animals with nervous sytems. Unlike vegetables.

So what?

Leslie

Well said GaryK.

I like Fly fishing too, because I am unemployed I do quite a bit of it UB. The drive home after seatrout fishing in the dark is great in my Scoob-no traffic which along Devon roads is very enviable.

Tell you what Dream Weaver, try landing a 5-6 lb sea trout in the dark standing up to your waist in the river, when the trout spends most of the time in the air and tell me that is boring! And they taste good too.

Before people start jumping up and down about angling, think about the netfulls of fish caught commercially at sea and either left to suffocate or are gutted and filleted while they are still alive. If I keep a trout for the pot it is despatched humanely as soon as it is landed.

Les

LG John

For us the thought of being dragged around by a giant hook in our mouth is unbearable as the pain would be severe. However, a couple of hundred thousand years ago you or I could snap our arm and just shrug off that kind of pain. In short, yes the fish might register an injury (otherwise it would do stupid things like swim into rocks) but who's to say that its anything more than a mild discomfort?

Also, does it remember the pain for more than a few minutes? For example, I could have been abducted by aliens last night, had my arms and legs broken and put back together and then my memory erased. At the time it would hurt like hell but I'm not in anyway affected by it because I have no memory of the event. Knowing my luck the abducted me and Kylie and asked us to show them 'sex' and then erased my memory. Dang

I suspect fish don't remember that long because once I landed a massive collie but the bugger got off just as I was reaching for him with the net Anyway, I noticed a distinctive mark on his side and about 20mins later my mate caught him again. If it had been that painful there is no way he'd go chasing little silver objects again that soon

dosenöffner

This came up several years ago back home (NZ).

The road code states that if you injure an animal whilst driving and it is in pain you have to stop and offer assistance.

They actually produced a list of animals you were required to stop for if you hit them.

Birds weren't on it but get this, fish were.

Has anyone (excluding off roaders going through rivers) hit a fish whilst driving?

Reminds me of the whale that falls out of orbit on Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

merkin

Les,

If you are struggling to catch old trouts, I could lend (in fact, give) you one