Pain management for farmed fish during surgical and other painful procedures is an emerging welfare practice. Developing appropriate analgesic protocols improves fish welfare at key intervention points.
Fish pain management is an emerging welfare frontier that parallels the earlier development of pain management protocols for other animal species. As evidence for fish pain experience grows, the ethical requirement for pain management during clearly aversive procedures becomes more compelling. Research into effective analgesic protocols for commercial fish species is advancing, with some NSAIDs showing efficacy. The barrier to adoption includes regulatory approval, cost, and cultural norms that do not recognize fish as pain-capable. Research institution ethics committees are driving adoption in research contexts, and this may create templates for commercial aquaculture practice. Welfare-conscious aquaculture operators can lead by implementing emerging best practices.