Yellowtail are premium farmed fish in Japan and increasingly globally, with welfare challenges centred on net pen management, handling, and slaughter practices.
Yellowtail aquaculture in Japan has a long tradition, and the premium market supports higher welfare practices in some segments. Ike jime slaughter, which instantaneously destroys the brain, is considered the most humane available method and is practised in quality Japanese production. However, standard commercial yellowtail production globally does not uniformly meet this standard. As yellowtail aquaculture expands globally, there is an opportunity to establish high welfare standards from the outset by building on Japanese ike jime practices.