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...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151/full |
| _version_ | 1827799304274706432 |
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| author | Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente Clara Tolini Andrea Boscarino Valentina Lorenzi Tania Lidia Dal Lago Daniele Benedetti Fabio Bellucci Amedeo Manfrin Angela Trocino 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 Angela Trocino Sara Rota Nodari |
| author_sort | Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T19:49:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T19:49:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-8c6c8d84157043ed9f5a03ac9c31ccfa2023-10-05T11:35:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692023-10-011010.3389/fvets.2023.12531511253151Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousnessGianfilippo Alessio Clemente0Clara Tolini1Andrea Boscarino2Valentina Lorenzi3Tania Lidia Dal Lago4Daniele Benedetti5Fabio Bellucci6Amedeo Manfrin7Angela Trocino8Angela Trocino9Sara Rota Nodari10Italian National Reference Center for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Brescia, ItalyIstituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Brescia, ItalyIstituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Brescia, ItalyItalian National Reference Center for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Brescia, ItalyItalian Ministry of Health, Rome, ItalyItalian Ministry of Health, Rome, ItalyItalian Ministry of Health, Rome, ItalyNational Reference Laboratory for Crustacean Diseases, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Venezie, Legnaro, ItalyDepartment of Agronomy, Food Natural Resources Animals Environment, University of Padua, Legnaro, ItalyDepartment of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, University of Padua, Legnaro, ItalyItalian National Reference Center for Animal Welfare, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna ‘Bruno Ubertini’, Brescia, ItalyInformation 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.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151/fullaquaculturefish unconsciousnessthermal shockelectrical stunningtroutseabream |
| spellingShingle | Gianfilippo Alessio Clemente Clara Tolini Andrea Boscarino Valentina Lorenzi Tania Lidia Dal Lago Daniele Benedetti Fabio Bellucci Amedeo Manfrin Angela Trocino Angela Trocino Sara Rota Nodari Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness Frontiers in Veterinary Science aquaculture fish unconsciousness thermal shock electrical stunning trout seabream |
| title | 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_short | 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 |
| topic | aquaculture fish unconsciousness thermal shock electrical stunning trout seabream |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1253151/full |
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