One of the world’s leading organisations for farmed seafood is to introduce new welfare rules after accepting fish can feel “pain, stress and anxiety”.
The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), which oversees a global certification scheme for farmed fish, is consulting on new draft welfare standards, including more humane slaughter practices. The ASC provides certification labelling for British supermarket fish, from sea bass to smoked salmon.
Under the proposals, farmed fish with the ASC label will need to be stunned before being killed. It says under current standards fish may be slaughtered by asphyxia or evisceration. The global production of farmed seafood (excluding algae) is predicted to overtake wild fish by 2030.
Nick Palmer, head of Compassion in World Farming UK, said: “Just like other animals, fish are intelligent, sentient beings that need protection from unnecessary suffering.”
The proposed new standards will mean improved labelling for consumers on the welfare standards of farmed fish from around the world. The Scottish farmed salmon industry says it already meets “the highest animal health and welfare standards anywhere on the globe”, stunning all fish before death.
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the leading organisation for wild fishery certification, now faces calls to also introduce its own welfare standards. Wild fish typically die from lack of oxygen on the deck of a trawler after they are caught, are rarely stunned, and may be eviscerated before death.
The consultation on the new global standards for aquaculture comes after years of debate by scientists over the sensory experiences of fish.
Lynne Sneddon, a lecturer in the biological and environment sciences department at Gothenburg University who has researched pain in fish for more than two decades, said: “There is now a wealth of scientific data showing fish are capable of pain and many government bodies accept this.
“Fish are highly intelligent. They can navigate mazes, they have numerical skills and they have complicated relationships. They should be given the same protection as mammals.”
The European Commission said in 2009: “There is now sufficient scientific evidence indicating that fish are sentient beings and that they are subject to pain and suffering notably when they are killed.” The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act passed in the UK this year recognises all vertebrate animal and some invertebrate animals as sentient beings.
The ASC said the new standards would eliminate the use of “aversive” killing methods including “asphyxia, salt baths, ammonia baths and evisceration”. The welfare standards will be for finned fish, but may later be extended to crabs, lobsters, shrimps and other marine life.
The draft ASC standards state: “Fish are sentient beings, able to feel and experience pain, stress and anxiety. Handling operations have the potential to inflict suffering.”
The UK produced 234,000 tonnes of farmed fish in 2019 with a value of more than £1bn. The UK also imports farmed fish, including salmon from Norway, sea bass from Turkey and catfish from Vietnam.
The bulk of farmed fish in the UK is produced by the Scottish salmon industry. These fish are already stunned before slaughter in “harvest stations” certified by the RSPCA.
Campaigners want new laws in the UK to ensure more monitoring and effective enforcement in the fish farming industry. Strict animal welfare laws concerning the slaughter of livestock do not apply to fish.
Amro Hussain from the Humane League UK said: “It is unjustifiable that British aquaculture has been left to self-regulate the welfare of its animals. It’s time to make sure that the slaughter of farmed fish is regulated to the same standard as other animals.”
The government’s advisory group, the animal welfare committee, is reviewing the welfare of farmed fish at the time of slaughter. It is expected to reiterate the opinion it gave in 2014 that there should be new welfare laws for the slaughter of fish.
The British Veterinary Association has said welfare protections in fish farms should also be extended to wild fish. It stated: “There should be further research to develop effective, humane and commercially viable methods of stunning for wild-caught fish.
“Once effective, humane and commercially viable methods of stunning wild-caught fish are developed, the UK governments should include the stunning of wild-caught fish in commercial fisheries.”
Compassion in World Farming said it had urged the MSC to introduce welfare standards for the catching of wild fish. The MSC said its focus was on environmental sustainability and it did not set requirements for “humane harvest”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it was examining welfare laws on the slaughter of farmed fish. It said: “We are carefully considering the issues. We have asked for an updated opinion from the animal welfare committee to inform this work.”
Salmon Scotland, which represents the Scottish farmed salmon industry, said: “All farm-raised Scottish salmon are stunned and slaughtered in seconds, in harvest stations that are independently certified by RSPCA and covered by CCTV to ensure that humane slaughter standards are met or exceeded.
“Scottish salmon farmers already meet the highest animal health and welfare standards anywhere on the globe. We look forward to the outcome of the animal welfare committee review, and if they conclude that there is a need for legislation we will work with the relevant authorities to ensure it is appropriate to our sector.”
Shopping for sustainable fish
Marine Stewardship Council
World’s biggest and best-known fishery eco-label. Does not yet set requirements for “humane harvest or animal sentience”.
Aquaculture Stewardship Council
Label for farmed seafood certifies producers for being environmentally and socially responsible. Consulting on new welfare standards requiring stunning of fish before slaughter.
RSPCA Assured
Certifies farmed salmon and trout in UK. Sets amount of space fish must have and requires them to be stunned.
Soil Association
Organic certification group was one of the first to develop welfare standards for fish farms.
