Wild-Caught Fish Welfare: Trawling, Hooking, and Death

Wild-caught fish experience significant welfare harms during fishing operations, including barotrauma, injury, and prolonged suffocation before death.

Key Facts

Over 1 trillion wild fish are caught commercially each year
Bottom trawling brings fish up rapidly, causing barotrauma from pressure changes
Longline hooks cause serious injuries in target and bycatch species
Gill nets cause slow drowning in air-breathing marine mammals and fish suffocation
Some countries have piloted more humane fish landing methods for commercial fisheries

Welfare Considerations

Fish trawled from depth experience barotrauma — the rapid decompression damages swim bladders, eyes, and internal organs. Fish brought aboard vessels may die slowly from asphyxiation over 30-60 minutes. Longline-hooked fish struggle for hours before hauling. Gill-netted fish drown over minutes to hours. The welfare scale of wild fish capture dwarfs all farmed animal suffering combined if fish are sentient. Carbon dioxide stunning before killing has been trialled for some commercial operations.

What You Can Do

Reduce consumption of wild-caught fish given the scale of welfare impact
Choose pole-and-line caught fish to reduce the volume of fish per unit caught
Support research into humane wild fish killing methods
Advocate for fishing regulations to incorporate welfare considerations
Support MSC-certified fisheries that are working toward lower bycatch and harm