Fish Injustices and Suffering

Suffocation

Rather than being slaughtered, wild-caught fish are often left to suffocate to death after being hauled onto the fishing boat.¹

Crushing and Circulatory Failure

When huge numbers of fish are caught in trawl nets, those at the bottom are inevitably crushed to death.²

Decompression

Fish who are caught at depths of 20 meters or more may suffer decompression injuries when rapidly pulled to the surface causing…

• their internal organs to be forced out of their mouths or anuses (prolapse)
• their eyes to be pushed out of their sockets
• their swim bladders to burst³

Freezing

Any fish who survive being caught and pulled to the surface may still be alive when they are put into freezers on the fishing boat, leaving them to freeze to death slowly.⁴

Asphyxiation

The most common method of killing farmed fish is asphyxiation, either in air or ice slurry.

Fish placed in ice slurry usually only struggle briefly before becoming immobile, but they can respire for up to 50 minutes.

Fishes can show signs of life for several hours when left to asphyxiate in air.⁵

Bleeding, beheading, or gutting alive

Some species of fish are bled out to improve the flavor of their flesh.

Bleeding out is often done while the fish is still alive.

Fish may have their heads cut off or be eviscerated without first being stunned.

Fishes’ brains can continue to function for some time even after decapitation.⁶

Percussive stunning

Percussive stunning (a blow to the head) does not always lead to immediate unconsciousness.⁷

Fish can continue to be conscious after percussive stunning because of improper technique:

• holding the fish in the wrong position
• stunning them in the wrong location
• not using enough force⁸

Percussive stunning is not suitable for many types of fish because of.

• their size
• the shape of their skulls⁹

Electrical stunning

Electrical stunning may be carried out either in or out of the water (known as wet or dry stunning).

Electrical stunning does not always lead to immediate unconsciousness. Complications involve:

• the wrong voltage¹⁰
• inadequate contact with stunning paddles (dry stunning on conveyor belts)¹¹
• the conductivity of the water¹²

Carbon dioxide

Salmon are often killed by being placed in water infused with carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide poisoning is slow and has been banned in Norway because it is inhumane.¹³

Spiking

Some fish are killed by driving a tool into the brain to destroy it.

One study that analyzed the accuracy in spiking found that the tool misses the brain up to 50% of the time, causing a slow, painful death.¹⁴

Other Methods of Fish Slaughter.

Since they are difficult to kill, eels are often killed with cruel methods such as immersion in an ammonia solution, a salt bath, or gutting them alive.

Tuna may be shot in the head while still in the water.

Carp are often sold alive and killed by buyers at home. They are likely to be kept out of water for long periods and are likely to be killed poorly without proper equipment.¹⁵

Farmed fish experience several stresses because of their living conditions. Examples:¹⁶¹⁷

Overcrowding may cause:

• stress
• loss of scales
• lack of oxygen
• possible gill damage
• heart problems (possibly due to insufficient exercise)

Poor water quality can occur because of the amount of feces produced in crowded conditions.

Disease and parasites:

• are rife because of overcrowding, causing irritation and discomfort.
• include sea lice, which can eat the flesh of farmed fish, causing lesions and even exposure of the skull in severe cases.

Health issues are common, including:

• skeletal problems
• cataracts
• soft tissue malformations

Abrasion may occur when fish come into contact with the cage walls.

Transportation can cause stress and increased mortality.

Cannibalism is an unnatural behavior that may occur if large and small fish are kept together.

Rough Handling:

• may cause injury to fish, potentially leading to infection.
• when removed from the water, may result in suffering due to a lack of oxygen and even death because of stress.

Artificial light:

• is used to manipulate fish’s growth and reproduction.
• may cause stress.

Predation:

• occurs when fish are kept in pens or cages in natural bodies of water.
• occurs when animals like seabirds, seals, and otters injure or prey on the fish, who cannot easily escape because they are confined.

Denial of natural behaviors is inevitable on fish farms. Fish who would swim several kilometers a day in the wild are kept confined in small cages where they cannot exercise natural behaviors such as feeding and migration.

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering of salmon to grow faster has caused:

• enlargement of the head.
• an impaired immune system.
• breathing difficulties.¹⁸

Triploidy

Triploidy is a genetic manipulation that renders salmon sterile, prevents farmed fish from breeding with wild ones, improves meat quality, and makes fish grow larger.

Triploidy causes:

• cataracts.
• spinal deformities.¹⁹

Hormone Injection

Hormone injection is necessary for some species to allow them to spawn when kept in artificial conditions.

Injected hormones are often obtained by slaughtering other carp to remove their pituitary glands.²⁰

Slaughter for Breeding

Some species are slaughtered so that they can be cut open and their eggs or sperm removed to be used for breeding.²¹

Hooking

Fish have a similar pain system to mammals and birds, and their mouths contain many sensory receptor cells.

Hooking is painful and stressful and can also lead to entrapped fish being attacked by predators if not reeled in immediately.

In longline fishing, fish may be hooked for hours or even days until the lines are retrieved.²²

Forced Fasting

Farmed fish may be deprived of food for several days before slaughter, potentially depressing the immune system and causing hunger.²³

Crowding

Crowding is the use of a net to encircle all fish in the enclosure prior to transport. The lack of oxygen caused by crowding can cause injury, stress, and even death in some cases.

Pumping

Pumping sucks the fish and water through the tube for a distance ranging from a few meters to over a kilometer, sometimes causing injury by projections or sharp edges in the pipe, or by colliding with one another.²⁴

Brailing

Brailing involves transporting fish in a net called a brail, some of which can hold several hundred kilograms.²⁵

Dry Brailing

With dry brailing the fish come into contact with the net, each other, and other surfaces, causing crushing, bruising, abrasion, and puncture injuries.²⁶

Wet Brailing

Wet brailing, in which fish are submerged, reduces the risk of harm, but fish sometimes fall onto each other or onto a hard surface, causing injury.²⁷

Live fish are often used as bait to catch larger fish, resulting in confinement for days or weeks.

Baitfish are often impaled live on hooks and eaten alive by predators, unable to escape.

Some recreational anglers prefer to throw fish back into the water alive after catching them.

Hooking is painful—the mouths of fish contain pain receptors.²⁸

Hooks of catch and release fish sometimes puncture the throat or internal organs, causing death in anywhere from 3 percent to 86 percent depending on the species and the type of hook and bait used.²⁹