Farmed Fish Stunning Technologies

Effective stunning before killing is essential for humane fish slaughter, with electrical and percussive stunning now validated for several commercially important species.

Key Facts

Most farmed fish globally are still killed without effective stunning, experiencing pain and distress at death.
Electrical stunning renders fish immediately insensible when correctly applied across gill covers.
Percussive stunning using a blow to the cranium is effective for large salmonids on small farms.
AQUI-S, an anaesthetic derived from clove oil, provides effective pre-slaughter stunning for some species.
The Humane Slaughter Association provides guidance on validated stunning methods for aquaculture species.

Welfare Considerations

Fish slaughter without effective stunning causes unnecessary suffering in hundreds of billions of animals annually. The scientific evidence for fish sentience now clearly supports that conscious slaughter causes pain and distress. Validated stunning technologies exist for key species including salmon, trout, and sea bass. The challenge is adoption across diverse global aquaculture systems, many of which lack the infrastructure or regulatory framework for welfare-conscious slaughter. Consumer demand for welfare-certified fish products creates the market signal needed to drive adoption.

What You Can Do

Choose fish products from producers with documented electrical or percussive stunning before slaughter.
Ask retailers and restaurants to disclose slaughter methods used for their fish products.
Support aquaculture welfare certification schemes that include mandatory stunning requirements.
Advocate for regulatory requirements for effective fish stunning across all commercial aquaculture.
Support research into scalable, cost-effective stunning technologies for diverse aquaculture species.