The slaughter of farmed fish is the most significant welfare event in aquaculture and one of the least regulated. Understanding current practices helps identify the most urgent welfare improvements.
Fish slaughter welfare is an area where significant improvement is technically achievable but not yet widely adopted. Live chilling and asphyxiation cause prolonged conscious distress before death — the fish experience hypoxia, temperature shock, and cardiac stress over many minutes. Effective stunning before slaughter — percussion, electrical, or CO2 for small species — eliminates or dramatically reduces conscious suffering at death. The regulatory gap between Norway's mandatory stunning standards and most other producing countries represents an enormous welfare improvement opportunity.