Document type: answer given by the European Commission
Authors: question: Rosa D'Amato (Greens/EFA), Piernicola Pedicini (Greens/EFA), Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA), Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA), Damien Carême (Greens/EFA), Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA), Pär Holmgren (Greens/EFA), Alice Kuhnke (Greens/EFA), Jakop G. Dalunde (Greens/EFA), Ignazio Corrao (Greens/EFA), Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA), Sylwia Spurek (Greens/EFA), Manuela Ripa (Greens/EFA), Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA), Malte Gallée (Greens/EFA), Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens/EFA), Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA), Anja Hazekamp (The Left), Clare Daly (The Left). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
Fish Slaughter: stunning before slaughter. Question: The Commission’s inception impact assessment of the ongoing revision of the EU legislation on animal welfare suggests introducing species-specific provisions for farmed fish at the time of killing.
Recent investigations into European aquaculture reveal the use of slaughter methods which have long been identified as uother small companion animalsceptable for fish welfare by the European Food Safety Authority and the World Organisation for Animal Health. The investigations also demonstrate the suffering associated with time out of water and with handling practices around slaughter..
As well as introducing requirements to effectively stun fish where species-specific parameters are known, will the Commission propose that:
1. Best handling practices be required at slaughter for all finfish species in aquaculture?
2. The worst slaughter techniques (e.g. asphyxiation in air or ice, salt baths and gas saturated water) be banned for all finfish species in aquaculture?
Answer:The Commission confirms that, as stated in the inception impact assessment on the revision of the EU animal welfare legislation, published in 2021, it envisages to add species-specific provisions for the killing of certain farmed fish species.For that purpose, the Commission will consider the available scientific opinions, the international applicable standardsas well as the results of the ongoing impact assessment.Scientific opinions as well as international standards recommend the use of procedures that induce unconsciousness until death. The Commission plans to adopt proposals to update the current animal welfare legislation by the 3rd quarter of 2023 and to consider the elements such as handling of fish and the killing methods in doing so.
