Research into fish cognition has transformed understanding of fish as welfare subjects, with significant implications for how we treat them.
The cognitive complexity of fish documented by behavioral research challenges the assumption that underlies most fish treatment: that they are simple, unaware animals incapable of suffering in welfare-relevant ways. A species that recognizes individual humans, plans cooperative hunts, and has episodic memory has a subjective perspective on its experience that creates welfare claims comparable to those of other cognitively complex animals. The gap between fish cognitive capacity as documented by researchers and the welfare protections afforded to fish globally remains enormous.