Fish and Tzaar Ba'alei Chaim

Are fish subject to Tzar Baalei Chaim?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

There is indeed an opinion that tza’ar ba’alei chaim , the prohibition against causing needless pain and suffering to animals, does not apply to fish.

The source for this opinion derives from the laws of kosher slaughter, shechita . It is explained that one of the reasons that a shechita knife must be perfectly sharp is in order to prevent tza’ar ba’alei chaim . On the other hand, there is no requirement to slaughter fish before eating them. One can kill them in any manner. The commentators derive from here that the Torah does not extend the concerns for tza’ar ba’alei chaim to fish.

Nevertheless, the halacha is in accordance with the view that tza’ar ba’alei chaim applies to fish just like it applies to all other animals. For example one may not sit down to eat before he has fed his fish (if its time for them to eat then). In any event, one should always try to live by the passage, recited three times every day, “His mercies are upon all that He created!”

Rambam, Hilchot Shechita 1:3; Beit Yosef, YD 13; Siach Yitzchak , YD 387; Yad Yehuda , YD 13; Pekudat Elazar 67.

She'ilat Ya'avets: volume 1 siman 17. and volume 2 siman 110.