Fish feel pain and even have friends, a scientist tells Wendyl Nissen, but if she wants to keep fishing for her dinner, there are ways to catch and kill them humanely.
My earliest and happiest memories of childhood all revolve around fishing. Catching a snapper on the boat with my dad was the best thing ever and to this day we occasionally still head out to do some fishing at the ripe old ages of 88 and 58.
There is a childhood picture of me, aged about three, with my arms wrapped around my father’s leg as I gaze adoringly at a dead snapper he is triumphantly holding up for the camera. Judging by its size, that snapper was probably about 50 years old, and little did I know at the time, but she had probably left some very dear friends behind her in the sea.
Because, today, thanks to science and studies done by people like Dr Culum Brown – a
