Fish feel pain, according to new research, a finding which will cause discomfort to those trying to find a guilt-free meal. With animal rights lobbies pushing for greater compassion in farming, game fish may now benefit from such efforts and humane killers could be used on fish farms.
The discovery comes from no less than Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, the research centre which cloned Dolly, the now deceased sheep, and from the University of Edinburgh. The Royal Society, Britain's national academy of science, published the research yesterday.
The team injected bee venom into the lips of trout, a move which caused "adverse behavioural and physiological changes". Fish apparently have nerve receptors on their heads which respond to tissue damage.
"We would encourage anglers to lay down their rods," said Ms Dawn Carr, of the UK People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Prof Noel Wilkins, of NUI Galway's department of zoology, said it remained unproven whether the response represented pain.