Throughout history, fishing has been one of the most popular pastimes for all ages, renowned for relatively passive participation required to be successful (ie. sitting on a dock waiting for the fish to come to you). But this does not take into account the negative consequences towards the other half of this game – the fish themselves. 

Conventionally, fish are thought of as dumb, unfeeling creatures, making them the perfect specimen for a practice that is essentially dragging animals from their home environment on barbed hooks solely for human entertainment. This is a treatment that we would not give to any other member of the animal kingdom that we believe to exhibit a certain level of sentience, or the ability to think for itself. For example, cruelty against dogs or cats is heavily dissuaded, whereas such violence on fish, worms, or other “non-sentient” creatures is implicitly allowed.

This assumption about the pain capacity of fish, however, has been proven false. As it turns out, fish have the same types of pain receptors that humans and other animals due, alongside the necessary nerves and senses to detect this pain. They can be shown to feel bee stings, so one can only imagine how strong their pain must be when caught on a hook. 

Additionally, fish are much more intelligent than they are shown to be. Through experimentation, fish have been shown to be able to efficiently learn geometrical relationships with landmarks and navigate mazes, thus shattering conventional stereotypes about fish and with it humanity’s casual belief in their superiority. One cannot help but wonder about the pain these intelligent animals must have felt, and what thoughts would have gone through their minds as they were abused and killed simply for the pleasure of a stronger animal. 

While it is undeniable that fishing is important on various levels, from personal to cultural, it is equally important for us to ensure that our fellow animals are not needlessly injured for our own entertainment and do our part to protect this much munched on group of the sea.

Information adapted from Victoria Braithwaite’s LA Times article “Hooked on a Myth” (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-08-oe-braithwaite8-story.html)

– Mahak M.