Aquaculture

Ocean Fishing Methods and Wild Fish Welfare

Industrial fishing methods cause enormous suffering to wild fish and other marine animals caught as bycatch.

Key Facts

Global wild capture fisheries catch around 80 million tonnes of fish annually
Trawling disturbs the seabed affecting benthic invertebrate communities
Around 40 percent of global catch is bycatch including dolphins, sea turtles, and non-target fish
Gill nets cause asphyxiation deaths that can take 15 to 20 minutes in some fish species
Longlines covering hundreds of kilometres catch seabirds and other non-target species

Welfare Considerations

Wild-caught fish welfare is almost entirely unregulated despite evidence that fish experience pain. Trawl nets cause crushing, barotrauma, and asphyxiation as fish are compressed by tons of catch. Asphyxiation in air on deck causes prolonged conscious distress. Discarding bycatch returns injured fish to the sea with poor survival prospects. The scale of global fishing means the aggregate suffering may be one of the largest welfare problems on Earth.

What You Can Do

Choose fish with MSC certification that requires sustainable fishing practices
Reduce fish consumption or choose from sources with the lowest bycatch rates
Support campaigns for improvements to trawling methods and bycatch reduction technology
Advocate for international regulations requiring humane killing methods for wild-caught fish
Support Fishcount.org.uk which campaigns for wild fish welfare protections