Did You Know Fish Endure Intense Pain For Up To 20 Minutes When Killed? New Study Finds

A new study revealed that killing fish like the rainbow trout could cause them intense pain for 2-20 minutes. The findings of the study were published in the journal, Scientific Reports, which focused on a common slaughtering method for fish called air asphyxiation (fish are deprived of oxygen).

Animal welfare groups have blasted this method for being inhumane considering it takes an average of 10 minutes of moderate to intense pain for a rainbow trout to become unconscious.

Physiological stress response of fish

The study uncovered that as little as 60 seconds of air exposure can elicit a physiological stress response in fish that is consistently greater than what is triggered by longer-lasting stressors.

It also highlighted that air exposure is the only stressor capable of causing hydromineral disturbance within a short time frame. Other stressors like hypoxia, crowding, and handling require longer exposure to stimulate comparable responses.

Stuffing in ice slurry causes unimaginable pain

The study further suggested that catching fish and stuffing them in ice slurry could cause even greater pain. But why is it so? 
Well, when stuffed in ice slurry, the metabolic processes of fish are slowed. Lower temperatures extend the time it takes to lose consciousness which raises the extent of the misery inflicted on these aquatic beings.

However, to inflict lesser pain, scientists suggest electrical stunning. The method if implemented properly could significantly reduce the pain fish experience.

Findings could ignite the welfare of trillions of fish

The study stated that the findings provided transparent, evidence-grounded, and comparable metrics that will guide cost-benefit decisions and inform slaughter regulation.

2.2 trillion wild and 171 billion farmed fish are killed every year for human consumption, given which scientists hope the findings could improve the welfare of all the fish killed yearly.

Reportedly, the co-author of the study, Wladimir Alonso said that the Welfare Footprint Framework provides a rigorous and transparent evidence-based approach to measuring animal welfare and enables informed decisions about where to allocate resources for the greatest impact.

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