Humane slaughter of farmed fish requires effective stunning before killing. Understanding which methods work helps advocates push for their widespread adoption.
Farmed fish stunning at slaughter is a welfare intervention that can eliminate conscious suffering during the killing process for billions of fish annually. The evidence that fish experience pain and distress means that slaughter methods causing prolonged distress — live chilling, CO2 immersion, asphyxiation — impose welfare costs that effective stunning prevents. Percussive stunning, when correctly applied, renders fish immediately insensible. Electrical stunning achieves the same result with different equipment. The welfare case for universal adoption of effective stunning is strong; the barriers are primarily economic (equipment cost) and cultural (historical indifference to fish welfare). Regulatory requirements backed by enforcement create level playing fields that make welfare improvements economically viable across the industry.