Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses
Studies that address fish welfare before slaughter have concluded that many of the traditional systems used to stun fish including CO2 narcosis are unacceptable as they cause avoidable stress before death. One system recommended as a better alternative is electrical stunning, however, the welfare as...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d00e525cf308460f8827a29fcc34ee74 2023-05-15T15:10:47+02:00 Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses A. Gräns L. Niklasson E. Sandblom K. Sundell B. Algers C. Berg T. Lundh M. Axelsson H. Sundh A. Kiessling 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731115000750 https://doaj.org/article/d00e525cf308460f8827a29fcc34ee74 EN eng Elsevier http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731115000750 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-7311 1751-7311 doi:10.1017/S1751731115000750 https://doaj.org/article/d00e525cf308460f8827a29fcc34ee74 Animal, Vol 10, Iss 2, Pp 294-301 (2016) welfare teleost aquaculture narcosis slaughter Animal culture SF1-1100 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731115000750 2022-12-31T13:21:20Z Studies that address fish welfare before slaughter have concluded that many of the traditional systems used to stun fish including CO2 narcosis are unacceptable as they cause avoidable stress before death. One system recommended as a better alternative is electrical stunning, however, the welfare aspects of this method are not yet fully understood. To assess welfare in aquaculture both behavioural and physiological measurements have been used, but few studies have examined the relationship between these variables. In an on-site study aversive behaviours and several physiological stress indicators, including plasma levels of cortisol and ions as well as blood physiological variables, were compared in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) stunned with CO2 or electricity. Exposure to water saturated with CO2 triggered aversive struggling and escape responses for several minutes before immobilization, whereas in fish exposed to an electric current immobilization was close to instant. On average, it took 5 min for the fish to recover from electrical stunning, whereas fish stunned with CO2 did not recover. Despite this, the electrically stunned fish had more than double the plasma levels of cortisol compared with fish stunned with CO2. This result is surprising considering that the behavioural reactions were much more pronounced following CO2 exposure. These contradictory results are discussed with regard to animal welfare and stress physiological responses. The present results emphasise the importance of using an integrative and interdisciplinary approach and to include both behavioural and physiological stress indicators in order to make accurate welfare assessments of fish in aquaculture. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Salvelinus alpinus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Slaughter ENVELOPE(-85.633,-85.633,-78.617,-78.617) Animal 10 2 294 301 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
welfare teleost aquaculture narcosis slaughter Animal culture SF1-1100 |
spellingShingle |
welfare teleost aquaculture narcosis slaughter Animal culture SF1-1100 A. Gräns L. Niklasson E. Sandblom K. Sundell B. Algers C. Berg T. Lundh M. Axelsson H. Sundh A. Kiessling Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
topic_facet |
welfare teleost aquaculture narcosis slaughter Animal culture SF1-1100 |
description |
Studies that address fish welfare before slaughter have concluded that many of the traditional systems used to stun fish including CO2 narcosis are unacceptable as they cause avoidable stress before death. One system recommended as a better alternative is electrical stunning, however, the welfare aspects of this method are not yet fully understood. To assess welfare in aquaculture both behavioural and physiological measurements have been used, but few studies have examined the relationship between these variables. In an on-site study aversive behaviours and several physiological stress indicators, including plasma levels of cortisol and ions as well as blood physiological variables, were compared in Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) stunned with CO2 or electricity. Exposure to water saturated with CO2 triggered aversive struggling and escape responses for several minutes before immobilization, whereas in fish exposed to an electric current immobilization was close to instant. On average, it took 5 min for the fish to recover from electrical stunning, whereas fish stunned with CO2 did not recover. Despite this, the electrically stunned fish had more than double the plasma levels of cortisol compared with fish stunned with CO2. This result is surprising considering that the behavioural reactions were much more pronounced following CO2 exposure. These contradictory results are discussed with regard to animal welfare and stress physiological responses. The present results emphasise the importance of using an integrative and interdisciplinary approach and to include both behavioural and physiological stress indicators in order to make accurate welfare assessments of fish in aquaculture. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Gräns L. Niklasson E. Sandblom K. Sundell B. Algers C. Berg T. Lundh M. Axelsson H. Sundh A. Kiessling |
author_facet |
A. Gräns L. Niklasson E. Sandblom K. Sundell B. Algers C. Berg T. Lundh M. Axelsson H. Sundh A. Kiessling |
author_sort |
A. Gräns |
title |
Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
title_short |
Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
title_full |
Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
title_fullStr |
Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stunning fish with CO2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
title_sort |
stunning fish with co2 or electricity: contradictory results on behavioural and physiological stress responses |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731115000750 https://doaj.org/article/d00e525cf308460f8827a29fcc34ee74 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-85.633,-85.633,-78.617,-78.617) |
geographic |
Arctic Slaughter |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Slaughter |
genre |
Arctic Salvelinus alpinus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Salvelinus alpinus |
op_source |
Animal, Vol 10, Iss 2, Pp 294-301 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731115000750 https://doaj.org/toc/1751-7311 1751-7311 doi:10.1017/S1751731115000750 https://doaj.org/article/d00e525cf308460f8827a29fcc34ee74 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731115000750 |
container_title |
Animal |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
294 |
op_container_end_page |
301 |
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1766341736405139456 |