Catfish are among the most widely farmed fish worldwide, with significant welfare concerns relating to crowding, water quality, handling stress, and slaughter methods.
Channel catfish farmed in ponds often experience oxygen depletion events during warm weather, causing mass mortality and significant suffering before death. Crowding at harvest creates severe stress and injury. Most catfish are killed by methods that do not ensure rapid loss of consciousness, including asphyxiation in air or chilling in ice without prior stunning. Pangasius from Vietnam has been associated with antibiotic overuse and poor water quality standards. Research into electrical stunning methods for catfish is advancing. Some countries now require pre-slaughter stunning for commercially farmed fish.