Fish and pain

[Rhiannon]

Not that anything will change.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/oct/30/are-we-wrong-to-assume-fish-cant-feel-pain

[Nearly Sane]

I've always found pescatarianism an odd halfway house. If the objection is to killing and eating sentient beings, then by any view fish are that. The idea that they are somehow a bit too dumb so it's ok, is just bizarre.

[Steve H]

Did you know that salmon are genetically closer to humans than they are to the most primitive fishes? No? Well, you do now.

[wigginhall]

I stopped fishing about 30 years ago, as I started to dread unhooking the fish we caught, which we threw back.  Put it this way, they didn't look like they were enjoying it.  We have some fancy fantails in a tank, and they certainly show a fear reaction, if you make a sudden movement or noise.   But we eat fish, cognitive dissonance?

[ad_orientem]

I've never understood fishing and and letting them go. I do fish but eat the ones I catch.

[Rhiannon]

I've never understood fishing and and letting them go. I do fish but eat the ones I catch.

At least there's an honesty in that.

[jeremyp]

Not that anything will change.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/oct/30/are-we-wrong-to-assume-fish-cant-feel-pain

The article has a false premise: I have never assumed that fish do not feel pain. The only person who ever suggested to me that they do not was a keen angler and then it was only in the bit of the mouth the hook goes through "because there are no nerves there"  and he could be considered biased.

[jeremyp]

Did you know that salmon are genetically closer to humans than they are to the most primitive fishes? No? Well, you do now.

That's a well known fact. Salmon are more closely related to humans than they are to sharks.

[Nearly Sane]

That's a well known fact. Salmon are more closely related to humans than they are to sharks.

Don't tell Spud, he's still struggling with quadrupeds.

[wigginhall]

I've never understood fishing and and letting them go. I do fish but eat the ones I catch.

Which species?  I've never known anyone eat coarse fish, except pike and zander.   If you join any club in England, or buy their license, they will ban you if you keep the catch.   A lot to do with conservation, and also match fishing.   In parts of the North and Midlands, if you were seen taking fish to eat, you could get into a very nasty confrontation, as local anglers often pay to keep fish stocks healthy.  This has happened with East European anglers taking carp, who are revered by carp anglers.   Why not take swans?

[ad_orientem]

Which species?  I've never known anyone eat coarse fish, except pike and zander.   If you join any club in England, or buy their license, they will ban you if you keep the catch.   A lot to do with conservation, and also match fishing.   In parts of the North and Midlands, if you were seen taking fish to eat, you could get into a very nasty confrontation, as local anglers often pay to keep fish stocks healthy.  This has happened with East European anglers taking carp, who are revered by carp anglers.   Why not take swans?

Perch, pike, zander mainly. Spending time at cabin near a lake, going fishing and eating the catch is part of the culture over here. Same goea for hunting. No one hunts for trophies, no one fishes just to let them go, but to consume and kind of get back to nature. The forests and lakes and what they provide for us are very dear to people here.

[Rhiannon]

Which species?  I've never known anyone eat coarse fish, except pike and zander.   If you join any club in England, or buy their license, they will ban you if you keep the catch.   A lot to do with conservation, and also match fishing.   In parts of the North and Midlands, if you were seen taking fish to eat, you could get into a very nasty confrontation, as local anglers often pay to keep fish stocks healthy.  This has happened with East European anglers taking carp, who are revered by carp anglers.   Why not take swans?

Same in this part of the world. Some fishing clubs had a 'No Poles' policy until they were told it was illegal. There's now some Polish fishermen trying to educate their countrymen about not taking coarse fish to eat. One well known pond lost all its fish and most of its ducks.

[wigginhall]

Well, in England we have decimated a lot of the mammals and birds, so keeping freshwater fish stocks high, is a good thing.   Yes, I've heard of Lithuanian bailiffs who patrol the banks, telling fellow countrymen to catch and release.  In fact, if they don't,  they are banned.  Fisheries spend thousands restocking, so don't appreciate losing them.   The exception is zander, which has to be removed, as a non-native predator, well, that was the rule.

[Rhiannon]

I dated a keen fisherman. His relationship not just to the fish but to the wider natural world was remarkable - everything from moon cycles to wind speeds. I understood it, but I couldn't bring myself to like it.

[SusanDoris]

I have never been interested in fishing - my sons used to enjoy sea fishing and once one of them caught a large cod and it was delicious. He won the young fisherman's prize that month!

However, I am very glad indeed that early members of the human species were able to hunt fish and game otherwise none of us would be here today.

[Roses]

I have never been interested in fishing - my sons used to enjoy sea fishing and once one of them caught a large cod and it was delicious. He won the young fisherman's prize that month!

However, I am very glad indeed that early members of the human species were able to hunt fish and game otherwise none of us would be here today.

Very true.

Fishing not an interest of my husband and I, or any of our family, it is about as interesting as watching paint dry, imo.

[Dicky Underpants]

Which species?  I've never known anyone eat coarse fish, except pike and zander.   If you join any club in England, or buy their license, they will ban you if you keep the catch.   A lot to do with conservation, and also match fishing.   In parts of the North and Midlands, if you were seen taking fish to eat, you could get into a very nasty confrontation, as local anglers often pay to keep fish stocks healthy.  This has happened with East European anglers taking carp, who are revered by carp anglers.   Why not take swans?

A lot more to do with match fishing than conservation, I think. The idea that the perch population of Britain is likely to be seriously effected if people eat a few is absurd. During WW2, there was an extensive breeding scheme for perch in the Cumbrian lakes just for this purpose. Perch in fact are quite nice to eat. Roach are very bony.
I don't see Brits developing much of a taste for canal or river carp - far too muddy on the palate. The Poles don't seem to mind, though back in Poland the commercial production of carp is quite a complicated process, a lot of it dedicated to getting rid of the muddy taste.

[Dicky Underpants]

I've never understood fishing and and letting them go. I do fish but eat the ones I catch.

I approve completely. No doubt you kill them quickly too - unlike most fish which people eat, which are left to suffocate.

[Dicky Underpants]

I've always found pescatarianism an odd halfway house. If the objection is to killing and eating sentient beings, then by any view fish are that. The idea that they are somehow a bit too dumb so it's ok, is just bizarre.

Quite so. I was rash enough to watch Bear Grills' recent series of Celebrity Island, where there was a recently converted 'pescatarian' who managed to bully the rest of the company into forgoing eating any land animal, but busied himself in trying to catch remarkably reluctant fish. Meanwhile, a convenient pig was left untouched - until they tried to tether it, whereupon it choked to death. They gave it a burial at sea. I nearly started throwing things at the TV - I must be becoming a truly sad person if I'm prepared to watch tripe like this

[wigginhall]

I was reading a letter from an angler complaining about zander being left to suffocate, after being taken out of canals via electro fishing.  I was impressed, as I haven't seen many anglers say this, and it is back on topic!

[ad_orientem]

I approve completely. No doubt you kill them quickly too - unlike most fish which people eat, which are left to suffocate.

Clobber it on the back of the head.

[ad_orientem]

A lot more to do with match fishing than conservation, I think. The idea that the perch population of Britain is likely to be seriously effected if people eat a few is absurd. During WW2, there was an extensive breeding scheme for perch in the Cumbrian lakes just for this purpose. Perch in fact are quite nice to eat. Roach are very bony.
I don't see Brits developing much of a taste for canal or river carp - far too muddy on the palate. The Poles don't seem to mind, though back in Poland the commercial production of carp is quite a complicated process, a lot of it dedicated to getting rid of the muddy taste.

Perch is a great eating fish.

[Rhiannon]

A lot more to do with match fishing than conservation, I think. The idea that the perch population of Britain is likely to be seriously effected if people eat a few is absurd. During WW2, there was an extensive breeding scheme for perch in the Cumbrian lakes just for this purpose. Perch in fact are quite nice to eat. Roach are very bony.
I don't see Brits developing much of a taste for canal or river carp - far too muddy on the palate. The Poles don't seem to mind, though back in Poland the commercial production of carp is quite a complicated process, a lot of it dedicated to getting rid of the muddy taste.

Hugh Fearnley Whatsit did something with carp to remove the muddy taste. He had it in some kind of filtered water thing.

[Harrowby Hall]

Wow.

This is all so mind blowing.    Fish come from water, well.

I've only seen them in Morrisons. They don't wear their batter overcoats there.

[Samuel]

I've always found pescatarianism an odd halfway house. If the objection is to killing and eating sentient beings, then by any view fish are that. The idea that they are somehow a bit too dumb so it's ok, is just bizarre.

I've always found the distinction between eating concious and unconsious beings bizzare. Life is life, and we consume it to survive.