Wild Fish Capture and Welfare Standards

Wild fish capture methods vary enormously in their welfare implications, from relatively humane pole-and-line fishing to highly damaging trawling.

Key Facts

Global commercial fishing kills approximately 1-2.3 trillion fish annually
Bottom trawling crushes non-target species and causes severe injury to target fish before death
Longline fishing allows fish to struggle for hours before being retrieved
Pole-and-line fishing allows individual catch and rapid killing reducing suffering duration
Purse seine nets capture schooling fish causing crushing injury in the net before death

Welfare Considerations

Wild fish capture causes suffering on an astronomical scale. The duration of suffering varies from minutes in rapid-kill methods to hours in longline fishing where fish may remain on hooks alive and injured for extended periods. Trawling causes additional suffering through barotrauma when fish are rapidly brought from depth. The scale of wild fish capture dwarfs all other sources of animal death and suffering. Welfare improvements in fishing practices represent one of the highest-impact areas for reducing global animal suffering.

What You Can Do

Choose pole-and-line or hook-and-line caught fish over trawled alternatives
Look for welfare-conscious fishing certification beyond basic sustainability
Reduce fish consumption given the welfare scale of commercial fishing
Advocate for rapid-kill methods as standard in all commercial fisheries
Support research into fish welfare during capture and at-sea slaughter