Are Fish As Intelligent As Crows, Chimps... Or People?

Whether they're caught in the wild or raised in captivity, fish are a major food souce worldwide. Nearly 5 billion people worldwide got 15 percent of the animal protein in their diets from fish in 2011; for another 2.9 billion it was 20 percent. In 2011, that added up to about 132.3 million metric tons of fish.

But the welfare of fish—which are vertebrates just like cows, pigs, and chickens, and possessing evolutionary lineages as long as those of homo sapiens—has been barely discussed. As a result “the potential amount of cruelty we're inflicting is mind-boggling,” says fish biologist Culum Brown, an assistant professor at Macquarie University in Australia. “People need to have a greater appreciation of how smart fish are,” he says. “Just because we're ignorant is no excuse to treat another animal poorly. All the evidence suggests that they're just as sophisticated as other vertebrates.”


Brown makes a scientific case for reform in “Fish intelligence, sentience and ethics,” a paper published in the June 2014 issue of Animal Cognition. The work was partially funded by the organization Farm Sanctuary, under its "Someone, Not Something" project.

Brown reviewed nearly 200 research papers on fish sensory perception, natural cognitive abilities (including “numerality,” or an ability to assess quantity), and abilities to perceive and experience pain, and found ample evidence that fish are intelligent on all counts.

For instance, some fish species use tools. Brown cites research showing that certain types of wrasse use rocks to crush sea urchins in order to eat their softer insides, while cichlids and catfish have been observed gluing their eggs to leaves and small rocks, which they carry around when their nests are disrupted.

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/are-fish-intelligent-crows-chimps-or-people

 

I HAVE no doubts that the dopiest fish are still a lot more intelligent than the likes of smellybum', Drinky, heavenlyfarter, Tommy "Gun" Monks, and Big Andy !!!

BUT as for your average fish being as intelligent as birds, chimps or average people ?
I THINK 'the jury could still be out' on that question..

Does it matter how intelligent something is for it to be treated humanely, if it does there's a lot of people out there that we can treat badly with impunity then.