Billions of farmed and wild-caught fish are killed annually often without stunning. Understanding humane killing methods helps improve welfare at slaughter for these sentient animals.
The welfare of fish at slaughter represents one of the most significant animal welfare gaps in food production. Given the evidence for fish sentience and pain capacity, killing methods that involve prolonged consciousness during the dying process cause suffering at enormous scale. Asphyxiation in air - the most common method used globally - subjects fish to conscious distress for minutes. Live chilling extends the dying process while maintaining some level of awareness. The technology for humane stunning exists and is commercially deployed in some sectors, demonstrating feasibility. The gap between what is achievable and what is practiced represents avoidable suffering at massive scale.