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Revision as of 12:12, 13 February 2014 by Brian Tomasik (talk | contribs) (→Potentially more humane methods)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Fish slaughter is the process of killing fish, typically after harvesting at sea or from fish farms.
Numbers
fishcount.org.uk
Welfare indicators
Research on fish suffering during slaughter relies on measures to indicate when fish are conscious and experiencing pain. Some indicators used by welfare studies include
- Behavior
- Swimming, gill movement, eye movement in response to body reorientation, reaction when turned upside down, etc.
- Electrical measures
- EEG, ECG, evoked responses, etc.
- These are quite accurate but also require high levels of expertise.
- Haematic measures
- Cortisol, plasma glucose, plasma lactate, haematocrit, etc.
- Tissue measures
- Indicators of stress in the muscle tissue, like lactic acid, pH, and the catabolites of ATP.
- These indicators typically also correlate with lower-quality meat.
Inhumane methods
Air asphyxiation
Ice bath
CO2 narcosis
Potentially more humane methods
Percussive stunning
Also known as knocking, percussive stunning involves hitting the fish's brain with a wooden or plastic club, called a priest. One or two blows done well can disrupt the brain sufficiently to render the fish insensible and potentially even kill it directly. However, applying this method properly requires training and effort. For some fish species, there are automated tools, like a pneumatic club for salmon.
The method must be applied one fish at a time and so is typically only used for large fish, like salmon and trout. If the operator is skilled, percussive stunning can be among the most humane methods and can also yield high meat quality. One comparison of slaughter methods found that percussive stunning had the best welfare performance as measured by low haematocrit, low plasma glucose, low lactate, and high muscle energy charge.
Spiking
Electrical stunning
Current research
Regulations
- UK law?
- EFSA
Notes
- ^ Poli, B.M. (2005). "Fish welfare and quality as affected by pre-slaughter and slaughter management". Aquaculture International. 13: 29–49.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Poli, B.M. (2002). "Biochemical stress indicators changes in sea bass as influenced by the slaughter method". Proceeding of the ‘‘Aquaculture Europe 2002: Sea Farming Today and Tomorrow’’. 32: 429–430.
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