Atlantic cod and haddock have been among the most commercially important fish in history. Their welfare in trawl fisheries and efforts at cod aquaculture deserve attention.
Bottom otter trawls drag heavy nets and steel cables across the seafloor, crushing benthic habitat and compressing fish against the net for extended periods. Cod and haddock experience barotrauma during rapid retrieval from depth — swim bladder expansion causes internal haemorrhaging and extrusion through the mouth in severe cases. Fish arriving on deck are alive and suffocate over many minutes. The welfare scale of cod fisheries, though reduced from historic peaks, still involves millions of individual fish experiencing capture stress annually. Cod kept briefly in sea cages for potential aquaculture show complex social behaviours suggesting rich inner lives.