Channel catfish is among the most farmed fish in the United States. Welfare improvements in catfish aquaculture can benefit millions of fish annually.
Catfish welfare is largely unaddressed in US aquaculture regulation. Pond-based systems can maintain reasonable water quality when managed well but are vulnerable to sudden oxygen crashes during hot weather, causing acute mass mortality. Individual fish deaths are preceded by hypoxia distress - a prolonged and aversive experience. Harvest involves pumping fish into crowded live-haul tanks for transport to processing plants where slaughter methods vary. Adoption of electrical stunning would represent a major welfare improvement for the large numbers of catfish processed annually.