Animal category: Fish

Effects of electrical and percussive stunning on neural, ventilatory and cardiac responses of rainbow trout

Jeroen Brijs, Per Hjelmstedt, Erika Sundell, Charlotte Berg, Erik Sandblom, Albin Gräns

Published in 2025

Study evaluating the effectiveness of dry and percussive electrical stunning for the ethical slaughter of rainbow trout. The results indicate that percussivestunning is more effective, while dry electrical stunning requires further research before it can be validated as a humane slaughter method.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Pain, Euthanasia, Brain integration

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Machine learning-based understanding of aquatic animal behaviour in waters

Ignacio Martinez-Alpiste, Jean-Benoît de Tailly, Jose M. Alcaraz-Calero, Katherine A. Sloman, Mhairi E. Alexander, Qi Wang

Published in 2024

Scientific paper proposing an automated method for real-time monitoring of shrimp behavior, using an instance segmentation system based on machine learning. This system, which is 89% accurate at 30 fps, provides a way to overcome the challenges of working in harsh underwater environments, facilitating biological investigations and improving automated aquaculture systems.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Crustaceans, Fish

Keywords:Precision farming, Experimentation, Identification, livestock farming systemBehavioural disorders

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Evaluating a crowding intensity scale and welfare indicators for Atlantic salmon in sea cages

Lars Helge Stien, Jonatan Nilsson, Chris Noble, David Izquierdo-Gomez, Elisabeth Ytteborg, Gerrit Timmerhaus, Angelico Madaro

Published in 2024

Scientific article testing the feasibility of a crowding assessment grid for salmon raised in sea cages. Three levels of crowding intensity were selected to assess their impacts on salmon welfare.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Pain, Housing, Restraint equipment, Stress, Transport, Welfare indicators

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Animal welfare at slaughter: perceptions and knowledge across cultures

Michelle Sinclair, Maria José Hötzel, Natasha Y. P. Lee, Maria Catalina T. de Luna, Arvind Sharma, Musadiq Idris, Mohammad Ariful Islam, Oluwaseun S. Iyasere, Grisel Navarro, Abdelkareem A. Ahmed, Georgette Leah Burns, Michael Curry, Jeremy N. Marchant

Published in 2023

Analysis of a survey of the general public to assess knowledge and attitudes towards animal welfare during slaughter (including religious slaughter), in 14 culturally and religiously diverse countries. The results suggest that concern for reducing animal suffering during slaughter is a universal human tendency rather than a cultural development. Acceptance of slaughter without prior stunning is linked to local interpretations of religious requirements.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, Sheep, Fish, Pigs, Poultry

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Education, Euthanasia, Fear, Human-animal relationships

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Social buffering of behavioural stress response in two fish species, Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and koi carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Santiago Pintos, Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato, Luisa María Vera, Luis Conceição, Cristiano Bertolucci, Javier Sánchez-Vázquez, Paulo Rema

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing that the effects of social enrichment on fish stress responses vary according to the species studied.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Anxiety, Enrichment, Housing, Fear, Stress, Behavioural disorders

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La douleur et la souffrance des poissons sont-elles suffisamment considérées en aquaculture et pêche ?

Marie-Laure Bégout

Published in 2024

Article following on from the FRCAW report on the slaughter of farmed fish. Ifremer reviews the capacity of fish to feel pain, their legal status, and appropriate slaughter methods. Making pre-slaughter stunning compulsory in France would require investment and an overhaul of the way businesses organize their work, but other countries such as Norway have already done so.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Euthanasia, Experimentation, Pain, Maltreatment, Stress, Societal issues

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The behavior and welfare of neglected species: some examples from fish and mammals

Bukhari SSUH, Parkes RSV, Sneddon LU, McElligott AG

Published in 2024

Synthesis of concepts and methods for assessing animal welfare through the study of behavior, illustrated by work on certain "neglected" species (buffalo, camels, donkeys, mules and lumpfish). The authors conclude that there is an extreme lack of balance in the species generally studied in research on animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Cattle, Camelids, Equines, Fish, Ruminants

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Working animals, Welfare indicators, Animal mediation, Behavioural disorders

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Air bubble curtain improves the welfare of captive rainbow trout fry and fingerlings

Océane Amichaud, Thomas Lafond, Georgina Lea Fazekas, Aude Kleiber, Thierry Kerneis, Axel Batard, Lionel Goardon, Laurent Labbé, Sophie Lambert, Sylvain Milla, Violaine Colson

Published in 2024

Scientific article showing that the repeated diffusion of bubbles in a tank improved the welfare of rainbow trout. The short-term (~7 weeks) and long-term (~21 weeks) enrichment effects were similar to those observed with more conventional environmental enrichment (provision of plants and shelter). The fish were less aggressive, less fearful and showed enhanced learning abilities.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Learning, training, Enrichment, Wefare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Behavioural disorders, Stress

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Survey report: Collect information on the national system to protect fish welfare in aquaculture

Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission

Published in 2024

Report on a survey carried out in Denmark in 2023 to gather information on the national fish welfare system for aquaculture. The Danish authorities take the view that current scientific knowledge is not sufficient to serve as a basis for the creation of a legislative framework for the welfare of farmed fish.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal trade, livestock farming systemTransport

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-003407/23: Time spent on the revision of EU animal welfare legislation

Question: Nikolaj Villumsen (The Left). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2024

Answer to a question on how long it has taken the Commission and EFSA to prepare the revision of European legislation concerning the "End the Cage Age", a revision which was not fully completed in the end.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, Equines, Sheep, Fish, Pigs, Ruminants, Poultry

Keywords:Livestock buildings, Housing, Societal issues, Restraint equipment, livestock farming system

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