Tilapia slaughter welfare varies enormously between operations globally, with humane stunning practices available but not yet widely adopted across the industry.
Tilapia slaughter welfare improvement is achievable and economically viable with investment in appropriate stunning equipment. The practice of live icing, where fish are still conscious when packed into ice slurry, likely causes significant suffering based on what we know about fish thermonociception. Percussive and electrical stunning methods achieve rapid insensibility with modest investment in equipment and training. The scale of global tilapia production means that adoption of humane slaughter across even a fraction of the industry represents welfare improvements for hundreds of millions of fish. Market access requirements from welfare-conscious retailers drive adoption faster than voluntary commitment alone.