In a positive step for animal welfare, one of the world’s leading organisations for farmed seafood, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) has accepted that fish too feel “pain, stress and anxiety” and is set to introduce welfare rules for slaughter.
The organisation is currently consulting the public on a new draft of welfare standards, which will include more humane slaughter practices.
As per the ASC website, the consultation will run till October 31 and aims to “collect feedback on the practical impact and auditability of the suggested requirements from producers, primary processors, and auditors as well as to understand stakeholders’ opinion on the entire proposal.”
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The current fishing standards as per the Guardian allow for slaughter methods like asphyxia and evisceration or disembowelment. However, the new standards propose making “stunning compulsory by introducing it in a phased approach to account for current practices for different species.”
As per Guardian, the proposed standards will help improve labelling for consumers on the welfare standards of farmed fish globally.
The proposal comes after years of debate among scientists over a fish’s ability for sensory experiences.
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While the current proposal is only for finned fish, it can reportedly later be extended to include crabs, lobsters, shrimps and other marine life.
Following this proposal for farmed fish, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) which is the leading organisation for wild fishery certification is also facing calls to introduce its own slaughter standards for fishing of wild game.
With the lack of any set standards, currently wild fish generally die of asphyxiation on ship decks or are disembowelled even before they die.
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According to Lynne Sneddon, a lecturer in the department of biological and environmental sciences at Gothenburg University who has studied fish pain for more than 20 years, there is now a lot of scientific data indicating fish are capable of feeling pain, and many government organisations recognise 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,” said Sneddon.
(With inputs from agencies)
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