Catfish are among the most widely farmed freshwater fish globally, with significant production in the US, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. Their welfare needs and sentience are increasingly understood.
Catfish welfare deserves attention proportional to the enormous numbers farmed worldwide. Like other fish, catfish have functional nociceptive systems — the neural architecture necessary to experience pain. Intensive catfish culture in large earthen ponds can maintain reasonable welfare if stocking densities are managed and water quality monitored, but overcrowding and poor water conditions cause immunosuppression and disease outbreaks requiring large volumes of antibiotics. Harvest methods including crowding seines and air exposure cause acute stress. More welfare-conscious catfish farming involves slower stocking densities, improved slaughter methods such as percussive stunning, and water quality management protocols that prevent chronic stress states. Consumer demand for welfare-conscious aquaculture products can drive meaningful improvement.