Channel catfish farming in the American South is a major aquaculture sector with welfare challenges around pond oxygen depletion, disease outbreaks, and pre-slaughter practices.
Channel catfish in intensive pond systems face seasonal welfare crises as summer heat reduces dissolved oxygen to lethal levels in stratified ponds. Mass mortality events from oxygen depletion cause acute suffocation stress preceding death. Disease outbreaks cause prolonged suffering before mortality or treatment. As nocturnal fish adapted to turbid water conditions, channel catfish in crowded, brightly lit harvesting conditions experience significant sensory stress. Electrical stunning before slaughter is increasingly used and significantly improves welfare at the point of death.