The UK government and authorities responsible for monitoring animal welfare are allowing fish slaughter cruelty to go unnoticed and “without proper oversight”, according to The Humane League UK.

The animal protection charity has issued the revelations following a number of Freedom of Information Requests (FOIs), submitted earlier this year, which showed that there was no official procedure for frequent welfare inspections at farmed fish slaughter facilities. This is despite the legal recognition of fish and other marine species as being sentient, and welfare legislation requiring them to “be spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.”

“It is alarming that apparently zero government officials are inspecting fish welfare at slaughter,” said Cordelia Britton, head of campaigns at The Humane League UK, in a statement. "From our correspondence, it seems clear that no relevant agency knows what’s going on, with each institution passing the buck to another. Without proper oversight, cruelty goes unnoticed - it is time for the Government to take responsibility for how farmed fish are slaughtered, as they do for other farmed animals.”

The release of the FOIs accompanies the start of the charity’s Forgotten Fish campaign that includes a petition calling on the UK government to better protect fish at slaughter by mandating for pre-slaughter stunning. However, this is likely to result in substantial costs for the farmed fish industry and fierce opposition from lobbyists and pro-fishing politicians.

Couple this with the ineffectiveness of changes to UK laws for the benefit of animals - as we saw with the news earlier this week that crab and lobster sentience was also now recognised, but that it would result in no changes to fishing in its current state - and the chances of new processes for monitoring fish slaughter seem low.

Never miss an article

Stay up-to-date with the weekly Surge newsletter to never miss an article, media production or investigation. We respect your privacy.

With no guarantee that the cruelty that is inherent in fishing can ever be mitigated - together with the ethical truth that fish deaths can never be justified when we can survive and thrive without eating their bodies - the answer seems not to be to call for new checks, but to do away with fish farming entirely.

As a recent investigation by Animal Equality into the abhorrent practices at Scottish salmon processors has confirmed, cruelty is rife and indeed goes unchecked. Fish farming has too many problems to ever be surmountable and meet consumer expectations. Welfare labelling is as ever woefully inadequate and no guarantee that fish do not suffer.

The Humane League report also highlighted a profound confusion within the UK’s public bodies as to who exactly was responsible for monitoring fish slaughter. For example, Marine Scotland told The Humane League that the Animal and Plant Health agency (APHA) was “possibly” responsible for checks, however, APHA stated that it “does not have a routine programme of official inspections at fish processing sites.” According to the 2017 European Commission report on farmed fish welfare, inspections of Scottish farms were the responsibility of both Marine Scotland and APHA, but a follow-up FOI this month confirmed that checks were still not taking place.

The undercover Animal Equality investigation into a Scottish Salmon slaughterhouse this year showed footage of fish being clubbed to death and having their gills cut while still conscious. The fish farming industry sets its own humane slaughter standards, said campaigners, meaning that there is no outside, independent oversight.

Animal Equality will be writing for Surge about their salmon farm investigation and the latest developments following the recent Guardian coverage. Follow Surge Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date with the latest guest articles, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Andrew Gough is Media and Investigations Manager for Surge.

Your support makes a huge difference to us. Supporting Surge with a monthly or one-off donation enables us to continue our work to end all animal oppression.

LATEST ARTICLES