New research should provide an answer to that question.
-Historically, fish have hardly been considered animals, I think it is important to change that. If we see fish as animals, we might start to respect them more.
That’s what Marco Vindas says, who researches the behavior of fish, and is currently working on a world-unique project in Norway.
Marco Vindas is an Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. He conducts research on the neural control of behavior and physiology in fish. He wants to understand emotional and cognitive responses of fish in response to environmental stimuli. Much of his research is focused towards increasing fish welfare and promoting sustainable exploitation of both farmed and wild fish resources.
Ida Beitnes is a Associate Professor at the NMBU. Ida has earlier studied stress as an important contributor to the development of cardiac disease in salmonids.
Øyvind Øverli, is a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. He tells us the story how the expansion of hydroelectric power plants in Norway led to an ecological disaster that has taken over 40 years to try to rectify and has cost taxpayers billions. He wonders if it is truly possible and advisable to attempt to fix nature.
