Fish behave in a manner that suggests high levels of awareness and intelligence and research indicates that fish may experience pain. It is important that consumers are made aware of this and of the availability of products made from fish which are assured/certified to have been slaughtered more humanely.” HSA’s Chief Executive & Scientific Director Dr Robert Hubrecht
Why has the welfare of fish become important?
Billions of farmed finfish are slaughtered for human consumption, far greater than any other type of mammal or bird, and many of these fish are not humanely stunned before slaughter. Finfish are considered capable of experiencing fear and pain and legislation exists in some parts of the world (eg the EU) to protect their welfare.
Unfortunately, the most common methods of slaughter expose them to substantial suffering over a prolonged period of time - many species of farmed fish are typically killed by being taken out of water and left to asphyxiate in air. Or fish might be frozen or gutted whilst conscious.
In addition, there are concerns about some non –fish species. Many crustaceans (eg crabs and lobsters) and cephalopods (eg octopus, cuttlefish and squid) are slaughtered for food without stunning and there is a lack of practical and scientifically validated humane stunning methods for these species.
What can consumers do?...
Follow the link to read the article in full on the HSA website