Like the animals many people share their homes with, fish are
individuals who have their own unique personalities. Dive guides
have been known to name friendly fish who follow divers around
and enjoy being petted, just as dogs and cats do. Yet billions
of fish die every year in nets and on hooks—some are destined
for human consumption, many are tortured just for “sport,” and
others are nontarget victims who are maimed or killed simply
because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fish Can
Communicate, Make Tools, Think, and Feel PainAccording to Culum
Brown, a researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney, “Fish are
more intelligent than they appear. In many areas, such as
memory, their cognitive powers match or exceed those of ‘higher’
vertebrates including non-human primates.”(1) In Fish and
Fisheries, biologists wrote that fish are “steeped in social
intelligence, pursuing Machiavellian strategies of manipulation,
punishment and reconciliation, exhibiting stable cultural
traditions, and cooperatin