“A Kettle of Fish: A Review of the Scientific Literature for Evidence of Fish Sentience”

In this review, Lambert et al. have sought to (1) catalog the extent to which fish sentience has featured over the past 31 years in the scientific literature and (2) discuss the importance of fish sentience in relation to their commercial uses. They searched a journal database using 42 keywords that describe traits or elements of sentience to find articles that were referring to or exploring fish sentience. Their review returned 470 results for fish sentience in 142 different species and subspecies of fish, and featured 19 different sentience keywords. The top four keywords were; “stress” (psychological), “anxiety,” “fear,” and “pain.” Their findings highlight an abundance of evidence for fish sentience in the published scientific literature. Lambert et al. conclude that legislation governing the treatment of fish and attitudes towards their welfare require scrutiny so that their welfare can be safeguarded across the globe.