January 13, 2013 — For years a row has raged over whether angling is a cruel sport, and now researchers have waded into the debate by claiming that fish cannot feel pain.
A study has found that, even when caught on a hook and wriggling, the fish is impervious to pain because it does not have the necessary brain power.
The research, conducted by a team of seven scientists and published in the journal Fish and Fisheries, concluded that the fish’s reaction to being hooked is in fact just an unconscious reaction, rather than a response to pain.
Fish have already been found to have “nociceptors” – sensory receptors that in humans respond to potentially damaging stimuli by sending signals to the brain, allowing them to feel pain.
Read the full story in the Telegraph