The welfare of wild-caught fish during commercial fishing depends heavily on the knowledge and culture of fishing crews, and training programmes are beginning to address this largely neglected dimension.
Commercial fishing represents the largest source of direct human-caused vertebrate mortality, yet fish welfare in this context receives minimal regulatory or industry attention compared to aquaculture or terrestrial farming. The scale of potential suffering is staggering — trillions of fish experiencing varying degrees of distress from crowding, air exposure, crushing, and prolonged dying. Cultural change within the fishing industry is a critical lever: fishing crews who understand fish sentience and pain capacity are more likely to adopt welfare-improving practices, and some early adopters demonstrate that better handling is compatible with commercial fishing operations. Training programmes, welfare champion schemes, and incorporation of welfare into fishing vessel quality assurance frameworks are all emerging approaches. Norway's inclusion of fish welfare considerations in fishing regulations represents the most advanced regulatory approach to date.