sentience in marine invertebrates Flashcards
what is Sentience
Sentience = the capacity to have feelings — mental states that are consciously experienced as good or bad e.g. love, joy, anger
- does not necessarily mean a sentient animal can reflect on its feelings, or understand the feelings of others – doesn’t mean conciousness
why does Sentience matter
- means there are limits on what a human can ethically do to that being
- also unethical to not show consideration of that being’s interests
who developed 8 criteria used to evaluate the argument for sentience in cephalopods and decapod crustaceans and what are they
Birch et al. (2021)
7-8: very strong evidence of sentience
5-6: strong evidence of sentience
3-4: substantial evidence of sentience
how many Confidence levels are there and what are they
5
- Very high confidence: weight of scientific evidence leaves no room for reasonable doubt
- High confidence: convinced, after carefully considering all the evidence, that the animals satisfy/fail the criterion, even though some room for reasonable doubt remains
- Medium confidence: some concerns about the reliability of the evidence, preventing high confidence
- Low confidence: there is little evidence that an animal satisfies or fails the criterion
- Very low or no confidence: evidence is either seriously inadequate or non-existent
how many criterion are there when it comes to if an animal has sentience or not
8
what is the first criteria
animal possesses receptors sensitive to noxious stimuli (nociceptors)
what is the second criteria
animal possesses integrative brain regions - capable of integrating information from different sensory sources
what is the third criteria
animal possesses neural pathways connecting the nociceptors to the integrative brain regions
what is the fourth criteria
animal’s behavioural response to stimulus is affected by chemical compounds affecting the nervous system e.g. either by an endogenous neurotransmitter system or local anaesthetics, analgesics
what is the fifth criteria
animal shows motivational trade-offs that show a balancing of threat against opportunity for reward
what is the sixth criteria
animal shows flexible self-protective behaviour (e.g. wound- tending, guarding, grooming, rubbing) in response to an injury or threat
what is the seventh criteria
animal shows associative learning in which noxious stimuli become associated with neutral stimuli, and/or ways of avoiding noxious stimuli are learned through reinforcement
what is the last criteria
animal shows that it values a local analgesic or anaesthetic when injured in one or more of the following ways:
a. animal learns to self-administer putative analgesics or anaesthetics when injured
b. animal learns to prefer, when injured, a location at which analgesics or anaesthetics can be accessed
c. animal prioritises obtaining these compounds over other needs (such as food) when injured
what were the Findings of Birch et al. (2021)
- It was thought there would be a substantial gap between octopods and other invertebrates – review showed this was not actually the case
- The balance of evidence tilts towards sentience in all the invertebrate groups considered
- evidence is very strong in octopods + decapod crustaceans, true crabs (Brachyura)
- There is substantial evidence in other coleoid cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish), anomuran crabs, and astacid lobsters/crayfish
what are Birch et al. (2021) recommendations
main = “We recommend that all cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans be regarded as sentient animals”
- rather than having laws that protect only well-studied species, it is better to aim for broad coverage in high-level legislation
- Reinstating the ban on de-clawing
- Ending online retail (e.g. by Amazon) of live animals
- Clear regulations for handling, storage and slaughter of decapods, banning the least humane slaughter methods in cases in which a more humane method is clearly available
- In particular: prohibiting live boiling without prior stunning, in cases where an effective stunning method or a faster alternative is available (same goes for live dismemberment and osmotic shock)
