Why fishes are the future and how you can get involved.

Fishes are intelligent, sensitive animals and the science is clear that they are capable of experiencing fear, stress and pain in much the same way that we, and other animals, do. Despite the incomprehensibly huge numbers of individuals suffering and dying so that humans can eat fishes, these animals receive only a tiny fraction of the consideration land animals do for their welfare.

What protection do fishes need?

It’s long overdue that fish were afforded the same legislative protections as other farmed animals and here at The Humane League UK we’re embarking on a new project to start righting that wrong. To do that, we’ll be starting, at the end; slaughter.

Across the UK the law states that animals must be stunned - rendered instantly unconscious and insensible to pain - before they are killed. But not fishes. Fishes are exempt. Fishes, it seems, don’t count.

Up to 115 million fishes are farmed and slaughtered in the UK every year - mostly Salmon in Scotland - yet there is no law to require the industry to ensure a death without drawn-out pain and suffering.

Is fish slaughter that bad?

If fishes are not stunned, their deaths can be some of the most appalling of any farmed animal. They can be left to bleed out after having their gills slashed and removed, be gutted alive, or left to suffocate and chill to death on ice, which can take hours. This is extreme suffering, and the fact that it’s perfectly legal is abhorrent.

The Humane League UK, with support from other animal protection NGOs, will be lobbying the relevant ministries and calling for much-needed change. The slaughter regulations must be amended to include fishes, and by doing so set a precedent that states loud and clear; fishes deserve equivalent legal welfare protections to any other farmed animal.

What can I do to help?

You can support our campaign for fishes by signing our petition.