UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84957968514&partnerID=8YFLogxK. [4], In the 2015 essay "Reconsider the Lobster", Jeff Sebo quotes Wallace's discussion of the difficulty of establishing whether an animal can experience pain. title = "Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics".
[11] They also advocate for the "Principle of Substrate Non-Discrimination", which asserts that "[i]f two beings have the same functionality and the same conscious experience, and differ only in the substrate of their implementation, then they have the same moral status. / Brown, Culum. There has been a debate about fish welfare for decades which centres on the question of whether they are sentient or conscious. This one has done particularly well, scoring, We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one.
Here, I review the current state of knowledge of fish cognition starting with their sensory perception and moving on to cognition. Fish Intelligence, Sentience and Ethics Culum Brown Macquarie University KEYWORDS fish cognition, sentience, welfare, pain, intelligence, ethics ABSTRACT Fish are one of the most highly utilised vertebrate taxa by humans; they are harvested from wild stocks as part of global fishing industries, grown under intensive aquaculture conditions, are the most common pet and are … Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors), Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals), Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology. Although scientists cannot provide a definitive answer on the level of consciousness for any non-human vertebrate, the extensive evidence of fish behavioural and cognitive sophistication and pain perception suggests that best practice would be to lend fish the same level of protection as any other vertebrate. [7], Simon Knutsson and Christian Munthe argue that from the perspective of virtue ethics, that when it comes to animals of uncertain sentience, such as "fish, invertebrates such as crustaceans, snails and insects", that it is a "requirement of a morally decent (or virtuous) person that she at least pays attention to and is cautious regarding the possibly morally relevant aspects of such animals". They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 25.6. One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#7 of 1,112) I spoke with him to hear more about his views. The perception of an animal’s intelligence often drives our decision whether or not to include them in our moral circle. DOI 10.1007/s10071-014-0761-0. "[11], Adam J. Shriver argues for "precise, precautionary, and probabilistic approaches to sentience" and asserts that the evidence provided by neuroscience has differing relevance to each; he concludes that basic protections for animals should be guided by the precautionary principle and that although neuroscientific evidence in certain instances is not necessary to indicate that individuals of certain species require protections, "ongoing search for the neural correlates of sentience must be pursued in order to avoid harms that occur from mistaken accounts.
Although scientists cannot provide a definitive answer on the level of consciousness for any non-human vertebrate, the extensive evidence of fish behavioural and cognitive sophistication and pain perception suggests that best practice would be to lend fish the same level of protection as any other vertebrate. The review reveals that fish perception and cognitive abilities often match or exceed other vertebrates. [5][6], Jonathan Birch, in answer to the question surrounding animal sentience, advocates for a practical framework based on the precautionary principle, arguing that the framework aligns well with conventional practices in animal welfare science. Dive into the research topics of 'Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics'. There has been a debate about fish welfare for decades which centres on the question of whether they are sentient or conscious. The perception of an animal's intelligence often drives our decision whether or not to include them in our moral circle. From a welfare perspective, most researchers would suggest that if an animal is sentient, then it can most likely suffer and should therefore be offered some form of formal protection.
Part of the problem is the large gap between people’s perception of fish intelligence and the scientific reality.