Commercial Fishing Welfare: Reducing Suffering in Wild-Caught Seafood

Commercial fishing kills trillions of wild animals annually through methods that cause variable levels of suffering. Understanding the welfare implications of different fishing methods informs more welfare-conscious seafood choices and advocacy positions.

Key Facts

Global wild catch fisheries land approximately 80-90 million tonnes of fish per year
Trawling involves dragging nets across the seabed, crushing, suffocating, and sometimes boiling fish in the net
Longlines can soak for hours or days, leaving hooked fish suffering until retrieval
Purse seine fishing entraps large schools rapidly, with relatively short suffering duration
On-vessel killing methods range from instantaneous percussion stunning to prolonged suffocation on ice
Pain research confirms that fish have nociceptors and experience pain with welfare significance
Bycatch — non-target species caught and discarded — adds substantially to total fishing mortality
On-vessel stunning before killing is practiced in some fisheries and dramatically reduces suffering

Welfare Considerations

Commercial wild-catch fishing causes suffering on a scale that is almost beyond comprehension: trillions of individual fish annually, caught through methods that frequently involve prolonged, painful death. A trawl-caught fish compressed against thousands of others in a net, then exposed to pressure changes as the net is hauled, then suffocated on deck, experiences multiple distinct welfare harms before death. A longline-hooked fish may struggle for hours. Gillnet-caught fish drown. The welfare implications are enormous, and while they are not the only or even primary argument for reducing seafood consumption, they are a valid and significant consideration. Consumer choices that favour less-damaging catching methods (hook and line, pot, and trap fishing over trawling) and support for on-vessel stunning requirements represent actionable improvements within current fishing systems.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood from lower-impact gear types: pole and line, pot and creel, and handline fishing
Look for Marine Stewardship Council certified seafood which requires some bycatch mitigation
Avoid trawl-caught seafood where alternative catching methods are available for the same species
Reduce overall seafood consumption to lower demand on the most welfare-damaging fishing methods
Support research into on-vessel stunning methods that could be applied in commercial fisheries
Advocate for fishing welfare standards to be included in seafood certification schemes
Support organisations working on fish welfare in commercial fishing contexts