Let’s bend it like Beckham but this time it’s about fishing which apparently is a new passion for David Beckham. He likes to salmon fish. And in this story, there are two aspects, as I see it, to David Beckham’s salmon fishing, (1) there’s been criticism of the Norwegian authorities for bending the rules for Beckham – without his knowledge it seems – which I mention below and (2) as a massively influencer he has the power to change people’s attitude towards the human-to-animal relationship and in fishing we tend to forget that this pastime might cause fish to experience pain and/or distress. I discuss this below as well.
Bending the rules
It would seem that David Beckham likes to fly to the best places in the world to salmon fish, one of which is on the Laerdal in south-west Norway which is known as the “queen of salmon rivers” because it is frequented by the country’s king and queen and which is found near the Sognefjord, the country’s longest fjord.
The local newspapers reported on Beckham’s activities but the locals were underwhelmed and over the following days some Norwegians complained that he and his companions had been given special treatment to fish on the banks of the Laerdal.
The Times reports that Norway’s Atlantic salmon are among the largest in the world but their population numbers are declining rapidly which has been put down to global warming and the spread of parasites from fish farms. On this river, in 2023, the catch was the lowest on record and 30% below the level of 2022.
Norway’s environment agency banned fishing on the Laerdal and 33 other rivers as a consequence. There is an exception to this current rule under stock fishing which describes caught salmon being transported to a hatchery where the roe is harvested for artificial insemination.
This form of exception to the rule normally involves a donation of £100,000 (1.4 million kroner) to the conservation group that runs the hatcheries. It appears that some of this money is passed on to the rivers’ owners.
But in this David Beckham bending of the rules episode as I’ve described it, there is controversy in that the governor of the surrounding Vestland County overruled her own staff to allow the fishing trip to go ahead. It appears the rule mentioned was complied with but the governor stood to benefit from any money donated because she was a member of the consortium that owned the river.
And it is reported that two officials also suggested that under the terms of Beckham’s fishing licence he would only have been permitted to fish with a net. There is some confusion here because a Norwegian official said the word “rod” had been left out of the licensed document by mistake! On this basis Beckham’s fishing methods were apparently acceptable and “no longer contested”.
There is no suggestion that David Beckham has done anything wrong. He was a guest on the trip and not involved in organising it. The Times reports that the trip fully complied with Norwegian rules.
However, a lawyer and angler, Rune Svoren, who had been prevented from fishing on the Laerdal “complained that the rules had been bent and the owners of the river were effectively selling fishing rights through the back door” (Times report).
And there’s been talk about a possible conflict of interest concerning the governor and the granting of the licence for the reasons mentioned above i.e. receipt of money.
The governor, Navarsete, denies wrongdoing and she said that she had not known that Beckham was going to take part when the licence was granted. She further adds that both her and her husband had not received any money. Further, a spokeswoman said that all revenues go to a nonprofit.
Pain
There are several studies on whether fish feel pain when hooked by a fisherman or woman or when suffocated to death as billions are when caught by commercial fishing fleets. I will refer to one or two of them here. In one, dated December 2012, the overall conclusion appears to be that “Results were also frequently misinterpreted and not replicable, so claims that fish feel pain remain unsubstantiated.” The authors concluded that “fishes are unlikely to experience pain”.
Another study dated 2 July 2020 (much later) tells us that “Over the last two decades empirical evidence for fish experiencing pain has grown.” And:
“Studies show that fish have a similar nociceptive system to mammals, that behaviour is adversely affected and that this is prevented by pain-relieving drugs demonstrating that fish respond to pain in a different manner to innocuous events. Further, fish are motivated to avoid areas where pain has been experienced and are consumed by the painful event such that they do not exhibit normal fear or antipredator responses. Taken together these results make a compelling case for pain in fish. However, this topic is still debated and the chapter discusses the opposing opinions.”
Citation for the immediate above: Sneddon, L.U. (2020). Can Fish Experience Pain?. In: Kristiansen, T., Fernö, A., Pavlidis, M., van de Vis, H. (eds) The Welfare of Fish. Animal Welfare, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41675-1_10
In a further study dated 20th of April 2021, the author, Robert W Elwood, concluded the following:
“The fish studies initially reported the occurrence of prolonged rocking movements in trout and rubbing of their lips if they were injected with acetic acid. Subsequent studies examined the role of morphine in reducing these activities and examined shifts in attention when responding to noxious stimuli…Thus, the idea of pain cannot be dismissed by the argument that fish and decapods respond only by reflex. The responses of both clearly involve central processing, and pain experience, although not proven for either, is a distinct possibility. These studies have been the subjects of highly critical opinion pieces and these are examined and rebutted. The conclusion is that both fish and decapods should be awarded consideration for their welfare.”
The synopsis for the book, “Fish Welfare” states the following: “Fish have the same stress response and powers of nociception as mammals. Their behavioural responses to a variety of situations suggest a considerable ability for higher level neural processing – a level of consciousness equivalent perhaps to that attributed to mammals.”
Based upon these three research findings, I conclude that there is a distinct possibility that fish feel pain when they are fished and that when they are put back their chance of survival is reduced. I think this needs to be taken into account by David Beckham because I am unsure if, at the moment, he has not turned his mind to this particular matter. I might be wrong but I have that impression.
I asked Google Gemini: “When fish are suffocated to death in their billions by commercial fishing fleets do they feel pain?”
Response:
The science on whether fish feel pain in the same way humans do is still evolving, but there’s evidence suggesting they experience some kind of distress. Here’s what we know:
- Fish physiology: Fish have nociceptors, which are receptors that detect potentially damaging stimuli, similar to how pain receptors work in humans. They also release stress hormones like cortisol when exposed to harmful situations.
- Behavioral responses: When removed from water, fish exhibit behaviors that could be interpreted as signs of struggle and avoidance, like thrashing and gasping.
Suffocating from air exposure likely triggers a stress response in fish. While it may not be exactly pain as we understand it, it’s likely an unpleasant and aversive experience for them.
My conclusion: we perceive fish as inanimate objects. They are living creatures likely to feel pain when hooked and suffocated.
RELATED: Fish feel pain and humans treat them cruelly
