LOS ANGELES – You know who you are. Despite all the uncertainties that this world may throw at you, you can know for certain that the person you see in the mirror is you. This innate self-awareness is synonymous with consciousness, which can be broadly defined as an awareness of self-identity and one’s relationship with the environment.
Though being aware is innate to humans, it is actually a rare gift shared by only a few others in the animal kingdom. Currently, only a handful of animals are known to have the ability of self-recognition, with historical studies highlighting the vast differences in neurobiology between different classes of animals. These studies fuel a sense of uniqueness, where human beings’ cognitive capacities are seen as surpassing all others.
Now is the time to change this view. Through examining the perspective of other animals and probing the depths of their sentience, we can gain a new understanding of our place in this world, which may even change our broken and exploitative relationship with nature for the better.
Consider fish, our most distantly related vertebrate cousins. Through revealing the mysteries of fish cognition, there is more and more evidence showing that they are indeed sentient. It seems improbable that animals so different from us could possess a similar awareness of the world. After all, how could fish think? How could the pathetic, cold, lifeless filet in your local Costco ever have been a sentient being? Take a deep breath. Let’s dive.
Most of the current discussion on fish consciousness revolves around whether or not fish feel pain. At this point, some people may rightfully question that a pain response could simply be a reflex like a human jerking their hand back from a hot stove that does not require any consciousness or complex behaviors.
The reason why pain is so integral to this conversation is because, according to the Encyclopedia of Pain, pain, like other aspects of consciousness, is a result of the brain operating as a complex adaptive and dynamic system. Pain also has links to behavioral changes such as fear and avoidance, which are major indicators of self-awareness.
Responses to pain are also easier to measure and, therefore, easier to quantify and lead to solid conclusions. In 2009, studies conducted by Dr. Lynne Sneddon illustrated that fish possess the same pain fibers as mammals. Bony fish even have these fibers organized into the same spinal circuits as we do. In a broad study published in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Animal Feeling, scientists have demonstrated that even though fish do not possess mammalian brain structures, they have evolved other forebrain structures that process pain, suggesting that pain signals do not remain sequestered in local circuits as a reflex would be.
Perhaps even more indicative of complex pain processing, Dr. Sneddon and her team have also discovered that pain induces behavioral changes. For example, rainbow trout injected with acetic acid rub the place of injection on rocks, whereas the control group, those not injected with acid, do not.
Behavioral changes could also be long-lasting. In 2019, Dr. Sneddon found that fish showed guarding behavior, reduced activity, and suspension of normal activities long after pain-causing stimuli were administered. This would be similar to a human avoiding a broken socket where they got shocked once before, which suggests learning and more advanced cognition taking place.
Incredibly, fish also have social relationships and form social networks. Most people perceive schooling fish as mindless and mechanical. However, that is far from the truth. Fish take time to identify individuals and develop familiarity, and Dr. Magurran and Griffith have found that wild guppies prefer being with familiar individuals rather than with strangers. Furthermore, fish in larger shoals were shown by Brown and Warburton to demonstrate quicker learning in identifying escape routes compared to fish put in pairs, which suggests that social stimulation plays a large role in avoidance learning. Since sociability and communication have always been hallmarks of intellectual prowess, these socializing behaviors in fish are convincing markers of complex cognition.
What, then, should we make of this? According to the Fish Welfare Initiative, fish such as salmon, a close relative of the rainbow trout, are often farmed in poor conditions. Sometimes, the water quality is unacceptable, and other times, there are disease breakouts and severe stressors in fish farms. In addition to that, Forbes estimates that 0.97-2.7 trillion wild fish are caught annually, and many die excruciating deaths through suffocation. This inhumane and unsustainable treatment of fish poses a staggering ethical problem both to the food-production industry and its consumers.
Considering this, it is perhaps a good time to reconsider our relationship with nature. Original narratives of anthropomorphous superiority are outdated and unfounded. Thankfully, people are already starting to gain awareness, and UCLA is at the forefront of change.
As early as 2017, Jonathan and Mark Gold, renowned food critics and environmentalists, highlighted the importance of sustainability in the food industry. Mark heads the Sustainable LA Grand Challenge and aims to apply UCLA research to make Los Angeles the most sustainable megacity by 2050. The LOES Marine Center at UCLA also conducts important research on marine environments and anthropogenic impacts.
It will serve us well to remember that our actions have reverberating effects in every corner of the planet; in its seas, plains, and forests. Any oversight can disrupt the lives of the birds and beasts no less profound than any of our own.
