Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness
Information on slaughter procedures for farmed fish in aquaculture is limited, both in Europe and in Italy, due to a general lack of field data. The aim of this study was to gather information on the procedures used to slaughter fish in Italy and to discuss them considering the WOAH and EFSA recomme...
Published in: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 https://doaj.org/article/8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa 2023-11-05T03:32:19+01:00 Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente Clara Tolini Andrea Boscarino Valentina Lorenzi Tania Lidia Dal Lago Daniele Benedetti Fabio Bellucci Amedeo Manfrin Angela Trocino Sara Rota Nodari 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 https://doaj.org/article/8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151/full https://doaj.org/toc/2297-1769 2297-1769 doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 https://doaj.org/article/8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Vol 10 (2023) aquaculture fish unconsciousness thermal shock electrical stunning trout seabream Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 2023-10-08T00:36:21Z Information on slaughter procedures for farmed fish in aquaculture is limited, both in Europe and in Italy, due to a general lack of field data. The aim of this study was to gather information on the procedures used to slaughter fish in Italy and to discuss them considering the WOAH and EFSA recommendations on fish welfare. Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected by official veterinarians in 64 slaughtering facilities where 20 different species of fish were slaughtered. The main species slaughtered were rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; 29/64), followed by European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax; 21/64), sea bream (Sparus aurata; 21/64), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus; 14/64), European eel (Anguilla anguilla; 11/64), sturgeon (Acipenser spp; 11/64), common carp (Cyprinus carpio; 6/64), and brown trout (Salmo trutta fario L.; 5/64). The most applied stunning/killing methods were “asphyxia in ice/thermal shock” and “electric in water bath,” followed by “percussion,” “asphyxia in air,” and “electric dry system.” After the application of the method, the assessment of the fish level of unconsciousness was practiced in 72% of the facilities using more than one indicator, with “breathing” and “coordinated movements” the most practiced. The collected data showed a discrepancy between the available recommendations about the welfare of fish at slaughter and what is practiced in many production sites, but for many species precise recommendations are still not available. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anguilla anguilla Arctic European eel Salvelinus alpinus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Veterinary Science 10 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
aquaculture fish unconsciousness thermal shock electrical stunning trout seabream Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 |
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aquaculture fish unconsciousness thermal shock electrical stunning trout seabream Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente Clara Tolini Andrea Boscarino Valentina Lorenzi Tania Lidia Dal Lago Daniele Benedetti Fabio Bellucci Amedeo Manfrin Angela Trocino Sara Rota Nodari Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
topic_facet |
aquaculture fish unconsciousness thermal shock electrical stunning trout seabream Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 |
description |
Information on slaughter procedures for farmed fish in aquaculture is limited, both in Europe and in Italy, due to a general lack of field data. The aim of this study was to gather information on the procedures used to slaughter fish in Italy and to discuss them considering the WOAH and EFSA recommendations on fish welfare. Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected by official veterinarians in 64 slaughtering facilities where 20 different species of fish were slaughtered. The main species slaughtered were rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; 29/64), followed by European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax; 21/64), sea bream (Sparus aurata; 21/64), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus; 14/64), European eel (Anguilla anguilla; 11/64), sturgeon (Acipenser spp; 11/64), common carp (Cyprinus carpio; 6/64), and brown trout (Salmo trutta fario L.; 5/64). The most applied stunning/killing methods were “asphyxia in ice/thermal shock” and “electric in water bath,” followed by “percussion,” “asphyxia in air,” and “electric dry system.” After the application of the method, the assessment of the fish level of unconsciousness was practiced in 72% of the facilities using more than one indicator, with “breathing” and “coordinated movements” the most practiced. The collected data showed a discrepancy between the available recommendations about the welfare of fish at slaughter and what is practiced in many production sites, but for many species precise recommendations are still not available. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente Clara Tolini Andrea Boscarino Valentina Lorenzi Tania Lidia Dal Lago Daniele Benedetti Fabio Bellucci Amedeo Manfrin Angela Trocino Sara Rota Nodari |
author_facet |
Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente Clara Tolini Andrea Boscarino Valentina Lorenzi Tania Lidia Dal Lago Daniele Benedetti Fabio Bellucci Amedeo Manfrin Angela Trocino Sara Rota Nodari |
author_sort |
Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente |
title |
Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
title_short |
Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
title_full |
Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
title_fullStr |
Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
title_full_unstemmed |
Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
title_sort |
farmed fish welfare during slaughter in italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 https://doaj.org/article/8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa |
genre |
Anguilla anguilla Arctic European eel Salvelinus alpinus |
genre_facet |
Anguilla anguilla Arctic European eel Salvelinus alpinus |
op_source |
Frontiers in Veterinary Science, Vol 10 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151/full https://doaj.org/toc/2297-1769 2297-1769 doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 https://doaj.org/article/8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1781694979858497536 |