Catfish are among the most commonly farmed fish in the US and Asia, with growing welfare science informing practices.
Catfish aquaculture welfare has received less research attention than salmonids, partly because catfish are considered hardy and adaptable. However, hardiness does not mean absence of welfare needs. Summer dissolved oxygen crashes in catfish ponds cause mass suffocation — fish experience acute respiratory distress during these events. Harvest methods including live skinning cause obvious suffering. The behavioral and physiological evidence for pain experience in catfish is consistent with other fish species. Applying welfare principles — adequate water quality management, humane harvest methods, and appropriate stocking densities — to catfish production can substantially reduce unnecessary suffering.