Fish Welfare and Harvest Stunning

Pre-harvest stunning of farmed fish before slaughter represents the most significant welfare improvement available to the aquaculture industry for the largest number of individuals.

Key Facts

An estimated 73-180 billion farmed fish are killed annually worldwide
Most farmed fish are killed without pre-slaughter stunning in traditional practices
Electrical stunning renders fish insensible within milliseconds when applied correctly
Percussive stunning is effective for some species including trout and salmon
The regulatory requirement for pre-slaughter stunning varies significantly by country

Welfare Considerations

Pre-slaughter stunning delivers welfare improvement at the greatest possible scale in animal agriculture. Fish killed without stunning experience the stress and potential pain of asphyxiation, CO2 exposure, or live evisceration that are common traditional killing methods. Electrical or percussive stunning eliminates this suffering. Regulatory requirements and industry standards mandating pre-slaughter stunning, combined with consumer preference for welfare-certified fish, are the twin drivers needed to universalise this welfare improvement.

What You Can Do

Choose fish from farms with documented pre-slaughter stunning protocols
Support certification schemes requiring pre-slaughter stunning
Advocate for regulatory requirements for fish stunning before slaughter
Ask supermarkets about their supplier fish slaughter welfare standards
Support research into optimal stunning methods for different aquaculture species