Animal protection organisations reveal cruelty on fish farms in a new paper on trout
Georgie Hancock
An expert-led report on farmed trout brings to light the reality that millions of sentient beings are not being protected by law.
The Humane League UK and Animal Equality UK have published an expert-led report which makes the compelling argument for slaughter legislation for farmed trout, through evidence-based recommendations and real-life examples of animal cruelty on farms.
Around 20 million of the 77 million fish farmed in the UK are rainbow trout, a species native to North America and Asia but farmed in large numbers in Scotland and England.
Rainbow trout are named after the distinct pinky-reddish colour of their lateral line, the depression which runs across the length of their body that detects movement, pressure and vibration - and means that fishes can swim next to each other in the dark without bumping into one another.
In farms, these interesting and social animals are confined to overcrowded pond systems, preventing them from exhibiting their natural migratory behaviours.
This alongside poor oxygen quality, and a build up of waste food and excrement makes for a miserable experience for trout, far removed from their natural habitat of crystal clear rivers and lakes. And when they are at their most vulnerable, at slaughter, they are not given adequate legal protection to ensure unnecessary pain is avoided.
Farmed fish are given some limited protections under UK laws, such as the Welfare at the Time of Killing regulations, and the Animal Welfare Act and the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act. But these laws lack detail, with no prescriptive parameters on how farmed fish should be handled, stunned or slaughtered, leaving the current law at risk of misinterpretation and incredibly difficult to enforce.
We know that the law is failing. Numerous investigations have shown serious instances of animal cruelty. Animal Equality UK found in their investigations smaller fish falling through slats that were left to suffocate in an empty bucket; and slaughter machinery not being adjusted for fish of different sizes, likely resulting in ineffective stunning.
In instances of clear failure to stun, workers struggled to hold fish in place and club them; on some occasions they held fish under ice and painfully tore the animal’s gills with their fingers.
The UK Governments must act to put in place regulations which clearly outline how fish farmers can avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at slaughter, and when they fail to do so there should be legal consequences. Farmed land animals are afforded legal protection at slaughter, farmed fish are deserving of this too.
