The cognitive abilities of fish are far more sophisticated than previously believed. Understanding fish cognition provides important context for evaluating their welfare in fishing and aquaculture.
Fish cognition research has revolutionised our understanding of these animals over the past two decades. Where fish were once dismissed as simple stimulus-response machines, the evidence now shows impressive capacities: social learning (young fish learn from experienced elders), complex memory (salmon remember migration routes learned years earlier), tool use, and potentially self-awareness in some species. These cognitive capacities are welfare-relevant because they indicate the richness of fish experience and the potential depth of suffering in negative conditions. The science does not yet conclusively resolve whether fish have subjective conscious experience, but the precautionary welfare principle applies strongly.