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Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Fish Suffer Up to 22 Minutes of Intense Pain When Taken Out of Water
Each year, a trillion or so fish are pulled from the water, typically destined for our plates. While it's hardly a pleasurable outcome for the animal, a new study has just put a sobering number on their suffering. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hail originally from the Pacific Ocean's cold water tributaries, but are now a popular food fish worldwide, farmed in every continent except Antarctica. Most of the time they are killed by asphyxiation, either in open air or ice water. While this is a cost-effective way to kill fish en-mass, an international team of biologists, led by Cynthia Schuck-Paim from the Welfare Footprint Institute, has found that each fish can experience up to 22 minutes of intense pain with this method. Animal suffering is a difficult thing to quantify, but scientists have recently developed a standardized framework that factors in the intensity of negative states like stress or pain and the length of time they're experienced. It's called the Welfare Footprint Framework, or WFF. The hope is that it will allow people who work with animals – biologists, veterinarians, zookeepers, farmers, etc – to compare and improve animal welfare standards. "Societal concern about the impacts of production practices on animal welfare is rising, as evidenced by consumer-driven movements, labelling efforts, accreditation schemes, policies and legislation that prioritize animal welfare," the study's authors write. "Our findings provide the first quantitative estimates of pain during fish slaughter, demonstrating the potential scale of welfare improvements achievable through effective stunning methods." Sifting through stacks of published scientific papers, the team created a detailed picture of the experience of a fish out of water. Just five seconds of air exposure triggers a neurochemical response we might associate with negative emotions in ourselves. Behaviors such as vigorous twisting and turning further demonstrate an intense aversion reaction. Without water, the delicate gill structures that exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide stick together, causing CO2 from respiration to accumulate. These rising levels trigger nociception – the body's alarm system – which causes the fish to gasp. Eventually the elevated CO2 levels acidify the animal's blood and cerebrospinal fluid, ultimately resulting in unconsciousness. Depending on the size of the fish, and the conditions in which it is slaughtered, these distressing experiences can last anywhere between 2 and 25 minutes. "When standardized by production output, this corresponds to an average of 24 minutes per kilogram, with over one hour of moderate to extreme pain per kilogram in some cases," the authors note. They estimate that electrical stunning, which has been proposed as a humane alternative for killing fish, could save up to 20 hours of moderate to extreme pain per US dollar of capital expenditure. But brain scans have found the effectiveness of electrical stunning can vary widely: ideally, the animal should be rendered immediately and wholly unconscious until death. With current stunning methods, this isn't always the case. "The welfare impact and effectiveness of any stunning method also depends critically on the entire harvest process, being affected by cumulative pre-slaughter stressors," Schuck-Paim and colleagues write. "The WFF can also be used for assessing the welfare impacts of these processes and identifying priority areas for effective intervention." While it's difficult for many of us to confront the cost of our human activities from an animal's perspective, this comparable measure of animal experience offers a clear picture of where improvements can be made for the welfare of our food stocks. By quantifying the pain associated with this most common fish slaughter method, we may find better ways to care for the billions of animals that feed us each year. The research is published in Scientific Reports. Tiny Moth Seen Navigating by The Stars in Scientific First First Signs of a 'Ghost' Plume Reshaping Earth Detected Beneath Oman Great White Sharks Were Scared From Their Habitat by Just 2 Predators


Time of India
15-06-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Fish endure intense pain up to 24 minutes when killed, study reveals
Source: Every year, wild and farmed fish are killed in great numbers to feed humanity. A new study discovers that some of the fish suffer between two to twenty minutes of intense pain, once they are killed for food. Even stuffing fish in ice slurry after catching them could cause severe pain. According to the researchers found that rainbow trout- a species of fish consumed across the globe- experience around 10 minutes of moderate to intense pain when killed through 'air asphyxiation', a common method used in fish farming and commercial farming. A new study led by researchers sheds light on this pain and suggests ways to reduce it, as animal welfare groups state that it is an inhumane process, given the amount of time it takes for them to lose consciousness. Fish suffer for long minutes of pain after being caught When fish are pulled out of water, they experience a prolonged and stressful decline, lasting up to 24 minutes. The process of air asphyxiation involves removing the fish from water, leading to oxygen deprivation, panic, and a slow decline into unconsciousness. Their gills collapse, they gasp in panic, their blood chemistry spirals, and oxygen disappears as carbon dioxide builds. To quantify this suffering, scientists developed the Welfare Footprint Framework, which measures pain in minutes. Applying this framework to trout slaughter, researchers found that fish endure about 10 minutes of severe pain, including hurtful and disabling suffering,with some cases extending beyond 20 minutes. When adjusted by weight, that translates to 24 minutes of such pain per kilogram of fish killed. The researchers analyzed behavioral, neurological, and physiological responses to understand the fish's experience, highlighting the need for more human slaughter methods. Why fish suffer even before they're killed The suffering of fish often begins before the actual slaughter, with stressors like crowding, transport, and handling causing physical injury and hours of distress. Methods like air asphyxiation and ice exposure can prolong suffering, with the latter risking tissue damage and thermal shock. Regulations often overlook these pre-slaughter stressors, despite the significant impact on fish welfare. Fish slaughter pain is not limited to Trout, experts warn Although the study mainly focused on Rainbow trout, other species may suffer in similar ways during air exposure. Some species tolerate low oxygen better, while others may react more strongly to ice. Salmon, Catfish, Seabass, and Tilapia are a few of the species. Dr. Wladimir Alonso from Welfare Footprint Institute noted, '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.' Making fish farming more humane The study suggests that improved stunning methods and worker training can significantly reduce fish suffering . This research provides a scientific basis for policymakers to reform laws, ensuring more humane slaughter practices. For consumers, it highlights the importance of considering the welfare of fish when making food choices. Improving slaughter methods can have a substantial impact, given the large number of fish affected Also read | Scientists spot 'superorganism' in the wild for the first time — and it's made of worms


Daily Mail
09-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Fish feel PAIN just like humans, scientists say - as they call for common slaughter method to be halted immediately
From fish and chips to fish pie, many British staples focus on seafood. But a new study might make you think twice before ordering one of these popular dishes. Scientists have revealed the hidden pain that fish go through during a common slaughter method known as 'air asphyxia'. This method involves allowing fish to suffocate in air or on ice - and can often take well over an hour. In their study, researchers from the Welfare Footprint Institute found that the average rainbow trout endures 10 minutes of 'intense pain' during air asphyxia. Based on the findings, the researchers are calling for air asphyxia to be banned, and for 'stunning' methods to be used instead. 'Pain and distress from asphyxia in fish can be potentially mitigated by stunning methods that induce rapid loss of consciousness,' they wrote in their study. 'For stunning to be considered humane and effective, pre-slaughter handling must be minimised and the animal must become unconscious immediately after stunning, a state that must persist until death.' Every year, up to 2.2 trillion wild and 171 billion farmed fish are killed, according to the researchers. However, several traditional methods of killing these fish are inhumane. 'Farmed fish are still commonly killed by asphyxiation (suffocation by taking them out of water), exposure to carbon dioxide, exposure to very low temperatures or bleeding without stunning,' the RSPCA explains. 'These procedures take several minutes to induce insensibility and cannot be regarded as humane.' In their study, the team set out to understand exactly how fish react to air asphyxia. Focusing on rainbow trout, the team found that during air asphyxia, fish experience anything between two and 22 minutes of 'intense pain', depending on factors like fish size and water temperature. This translates to around 24 minutes of pain per kilogram of fish, according to the experts. In contrast, 'stunning' methods are immediate, meaning the fish don't suffer. 'Electrical and percussive stunning methods for fish are now becoming more common,' the RSPCA explained. 'These include water-bath stunning systems where fish pass through electrified water to stun them, and percussive stunning of fish using automated flow-through systems where fish remain in water until the point of stunning. 'These systems remove the need for pre-slaughter handling of fish and allow fish to be effectively stunned prior to being bled out.' While you might think that these methods would be more expensive, the researchers say that this isn't the case. 'If implemented properly, electrical stunning could avert 60 to 1,200 minutes of moderate to extreme pain for every U.S. dollar of capital cost,' they explained.