Catfish are among the world's most farmed fish, yet their welfare receives limited attention. Research on their sentience and sensitivity is informing better production practices.
Catfish welfare is an emerging area of aquaculture science. The key welfare challenges are water quality management, stocking density, handling stress, and humane slaughter. Pond systems, while giving catfish more space than intensive recirculating systems, can experience dissolved oxygen crashes during hot weather — causing mass mortality events that represent both welfare and production failures. Feeding management also affects welfare: underfeeding increases competition and aggression, while overfeeding degrades water quality. Handling at harvest involves netting, crowding, and transport — processes that cause measurable stress responses. Improved practices include gradual handling, use of salt baths or sedation for transport, and electric stunning at slaughter. Certification schemes for farmed catfish are emerging but remain underdeveloped compared to salmon aquaculture standards.