Humane slaughter of wild-caught fish Recommendations for improving the welfare of over 1 trillion fishes caught in the wild annually

James, K.L., Amarasinghe, U.S., Herath, T.K., Jayasuriya, N., Lines, J., Sneddon, L. and Randall, N.P. (2025) Humane slaughter of wild-caught fish Recommendations for improving the welfare of over 1 trillion fishes caught in the wild annually. [Report]

Text K James Humane Slaughter of wild-caught fish OCR Upload.pdf - Published Version Download (3MB)

Abstract

An estimated 1.1 to 2.2 trillion wild finfish are caught globally each year (Mood & Brooke, 2024). As a substantial and growing evidence shows that fish are sentient beings capable of experiencing fear, pain and suffering, there is increasing international recognition of the need to improve their welfare during slaughter. Most wild-caught fish are not humanely stunned before killing, and evidence suggests these fish may experience significant suffering between the time they are captured and their death. Currently, guidelines for the humane stunning of wild-caught fish are extremely limited, and legal protections for their welfare are rare. This report summarises key findings and recommendations from a research project that investigated the overall feasibility of humane stunning of finfish in wild-capture fisheries.

Item Type:	Report
Additional Information:	Based on the peer reviewed scientific paper published in the open access journal Animal Welfare: James et al (2025) Humane stunning or stun/ killing in the slaughter of wild-caught finfish: The scientific evidence base. Animal Welfare. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.30
Divisions:	Animal Health, Behaviour and Welfare (from 1.09.21)
Depositing User:	Mrs Susan Howe
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2026 16:25
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2026 16:25
URI:	https://hau.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18299

Actions (login required)

Edit Item