This NYT article presents a good candidate for the IgĀ® Nobel Prize:
“By injecting bee venom and acetic acid into the lips of captive rainbow trout, the Royal Society said, Dr. Sneddon and other scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh discovered that the fish displayed “profound behavioral and physiological changes” over a period of time, “comparable to those observed in higher mammals.””
This reminded me something from “Friends“:
[Scene: Tattoo parlor. Rachel is showing Phoebe her tattoo.]
Phoebe: Oh that looks so good, oh I love it.
Rachel: I know, so do I. Oh Phoebe, I’m so glad you made me do this. OK, lemme se yours.
Phoebe: Ahh. OK, let’s see yours again.
Rachel: Phoebe we just saw mine, let me see yours.
Phoebe: Oh OK. [pulls over her shirt and shows a bare shoulder] Oh no, oh it’s gone, that’s so weird, I don’t know how-where it went.
Rachel: You didn’t get it?
Phoebe: No.
Rachel: Why didn’t you get it?
Phoebe: I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Rachel: Phoebe, how would you do this to me? This was all your idea.
Phoebe: I know, I know, and I was gonna get it but then he came in with this needle and uh, di-, did you know they do this with needles?
Rachel: Really? You don’t say, because mine was licked on by kittens.
Of course game fishes feel pain. And so do smaller fishes and mussels and worms they eat. Game fishes don’t care at all about the pain of the smaller things that they eat. Such is life.