Fish also have emotion and pain! International attention is paid to the welfare of aquatic animals, with clear norms from fishing, transportation to slaughter.

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At present, the global fishery is facing the problems of declining natural resources and decreasing catch. only the proportion and production of farmed fisheries are increasing, so the international community pays more and more attention to the breeding methods of farmed fisheries and whether fish receive good welfare treatment. China's first Symposium on "Aquatic Animal Welfare and friendly farming" was unveiled at National Taiwan University yesterday (23). Speakers from different professional fields were invited to explore what aquatic animal welfare is on the aspects of ecology, physiology, industrial management, international regulations and humanitarian care of aquatic animals.

The Deputy Director of Fisheries, Mr Lam Kwok-ping, said that the Fisheries Department would first understand the tolerance and breeding conditions of various aquatic animals and provide repeated evidence through experiments and studies, with a view to formulating policies that are suitable for various aquatic animals and meet the operational needs of the industry. In addition, he frankly says that many operators respond that it is consumers' preference to "buy live fish." therefore, in the future, the Fisheries Department will also focus on consumer education and promote the correct fish eating culture and practices.

People choose to buy fish bouncing on the ground. (photo / Lin Xiejun) the controversy over the sale of pets has set off a discussion on aquatic life in China.

In recent years, the international community has paid more and more attention to the issue of aquatic animal welfare. In 105, China also attracted much attention because of the pet dispute, which prompted the Fisheries Department of the Council of Agriculture to entrust the Ocean University to complete the aquatic animal welfare improvement plan (Note 1). As the basis for the government to promote aquatic animal welfare standards.

However, up to now, there are still many difficulties in the implementation of aquatic animal welfare, and the industrial end and consumer market have not yet reached a consensus. The Taiwan Animal Society Research Society (hereinafter referred to as the "Animation Society") frankly said, "when faced with aquatic welfare issues such as fish, when discussing the issue of animal welfare of mammals (pigs, cattle, sheep, etc.) in the past, society has a very different response." Although fish belong to vertebrates and are protected by China's Animal Protection Law, the public generally do not know about them, and the progress of the promotion of aquatic animal welfare is relatively slow.

How do scientists view the emotion and pain of aquatic animals?

Many people misunderstand that goldfish have a memory of only three seconds. How do scientists evaluate the intelligence, emotion and pain of aquatic animals?

Yan Shengxian, an associate professor in the Department of Life Sciences at Sun Yat-sen University, said that many studies have long pointed out that fish have a high degree of intelligence and learning ability, and that some groups are even more intelligent than terrestrial vertebrates. some fish have also been proved to have self-awareness, tool use, and social life and social structure, so "fish definitely have more than a few seconds of pain and memory." He believes that the way people treat "animals" and "food" depends only on their prejudices and preferences for them. "this is not scientific knowledge at all, but a human problem."

At the practical level, the basic principle of the Animal Protection Law is that it should not suffer unnecessary suffering, whether or not it is used as food, work tools, friends or research needs, but there is no clear definition in the part of "animal welfare", thus increasing the difficulties in enforcement and supervision.

Yan Shengjun, Associate Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University (Photography / Lin Shijun) International attention to fishing, transportation and slaughtering of fish have clear norms.

Internationally, more and more countries have put forward the concept of "welfare as a whole" (One welfare), which emphasizes that animals, human beings and ecosystem health are closely related, and "animal welfare" is an indispensable part of sustainable animal husbandry, food safety and ethics. In the Aquatic Animal Health Code (Aquatic Animal Health Code) of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), it is stipulated that fish, amphibians, crustaceans and molluscs should be protected by animal welfare, and even pointed out that improving fish welfare can increase production capacity and enhance economic benefits.

Chen Shizhang, secretary general of the Taiwan Fisheries Economic Development Association, said that the "Global good Agricultural practices" (GLOBALG.A.P.) is the only verification mark that incorporates animal welfare into the Aquatic processing process (CoC) standard, and attaches great importance to the conditions for transporting fish, the health of fish during fishing, knockout and bloodletting, and so on.

GLOBALG.A.P. It is pointed out that when slaughtering fish, attention should be paid to the appearance of health indicators, whether there are fish scale loss, fin decay, bite by food animals or parasitic diseases, etc.; when handling fish, the condition, such as density and dissolved oxygen conditions, should be monitored regularly to prevent fish from being subjected to unnecessary urgency. All fishermen are also trained in slaughtering care, including special training in techniques such as knockout and bloodletting (if necessary) to ensure that fish can be knocked out effectively and lose consciousness immediately.