About the talks
Monday - Fish Behaviour
Prof. Culum Brown
Pain and Emotion in Fishes – Fish Welfare Implications for Fisheries and Aquaculture
Fishes have been considered as mindless automatons for a long time, but research on fish cognition over the past 20 years has greatly changed that view. In 2002, the first evidence that fish had nociceptors (for detecting noxious stimuli) suggested that, like the rest of the vertebrates, they likely feel pain. Since that time there is mounting evidence that they do feel pain on an emotional and cognitive level in a manner not dissimilar to humans. However, since one can not study emotions directly because of the “other mind” problem, scientists use multiple lines of indirect evidence that collectively show that animals respond aversively to painful stimuli. Here I briefly outline the criteria for the capacity for pain and suffering in animals and determine how many have been met by researchers studying fish. Some of these criteria are more closely linked to the nociceptor component of pain, while others are key indicators of conscious/emotional responses to pain, far beyond mere reflexes. I finish by emphasising the important role that emotions play in driving animal behaviour.
Dr. Lynne Sneddon
Are fishes and crustaceans sentient?
Recent research has shown the capacity for aquatic animals to show complicated behaviours and motivational states. The empirical evidence for sentience shall be reviewed for fishes and crustaceans to demonstrate that these animals possess the ability to react to their external world and experience adverse internal states. To be sentient, animals should be able to communicate to one another and form relationships; be able to learn and remember; assess the risk and benefits of a situation; experience positive and negative affective states; and have some degree of awareness. By reviewing scientific studies that demonstrate these abilities in animals we can use this information to inform our treatment of these animals and change guidelines and legislation.
Dr. João L. Saraiva
Fish ethology and impact on fish farming
Behaviour is the first and foremost indicator of an animal's welfare state, and Ethology is (arguably) the best conceptual and operational framework to address welfare of farmed fish. The 4 questions of Ethology are essential not only to understand how the animals are coping with the farming environment but also how can we improve their welfare. Why were the behaviours selected? How are they adaptive? How do they change during development? What internal mechanisms regulate them? Addressing these 4 essential questions in farmed fish is a key step to assess fish welfare and proactively improve their quality of life. More importantly, a deep ethological knowledge of farmed fish species will allow the implementation of rearing protocols that promote positive welfare and gradually abandon the outdated paradigms around 'mitigation measures'. I will discuss behavioural welfare indicators together with environmental enrichment, predictable routines, preference contexts and similar concepts as positive welfare measures within an ethological framework.
PANEL: Current attitudes towards fish
Host: Becky Jenkins
Panel: Allie Feldman, Stephen Frattini, Amandine Sanvisens & Tom Briggs
Advocacy for fish and other aquatic animals depends on a solid understanding of the various current attitudes towards fish welfare. This panel will discuss current attitudes from the perspectives of the public, veterinarians, producers, consumers, policy makers, and more
Dr. Becca Franks
How do we know what fish want?
Discovering the interests, preferences, or motivation of another individual is difficult. And yet, information about what an individual wants is thought to be central to securing and ensuring their wellbeing. How can we figure out the needs and wants of another individual, especially when that individual is a member of a species that is quite different from our own? How can we even be sure that we are asking the right questions? In this talk, I will examine some of the powerful tools we have for ascertaining what fishes want and discuss the ways in which we can be led astray. In particular, a new wave of animal welfare research seeks to understand individual animals for their own sake, emphasising autonomy and natural behaviour. By including these new principles of “positive welfare” in the study of aquatic animals, some of the assumptions that inhibited progress in the past may be avoided.