Spanish aquaculture farmers have joined hands with researchers, animal welfare groups, fisheries administrations, certification bodies, and other stakeholders to develop protocols for the humane slaughter of farmed fish.
The Spanish aquaculture sector is developing a set of guidelines for best practice during fish slaughter. While fish welfare will be the focal point the document also addresses worker safety, food safety, and final product quality.
To move forward, aquaculture in the European Union must follow the path of sustainability. And this path can only be followed based, first, on appropriate siting of the farms and, second, by applying responsible practices. Improving siting of European fish farms requires streamlining administrative procedures and reducing red tape by public administrations and governments. But implementing best practice is a direct responsibility of the industry. Keeping this in mind, the Spanish Aquaculture Association, APROMAR, is constantly promoting the elaboration and application of guidelines for responsible aquaculture.
Guidelines developed with broad stakeholder participation
Fish welfare is an increasingly relevant issue on which Spanish fish farmers work to stay ahead of social expectations. European animal welfare regulations cover farmed fish because they are applied to all vertebrate species, but detailed conditions are not yet developed for fish because of insufficient sound scientific knowledge. However, work can be done on specific production phases. With this objective in mind APROMAR approached the Department of Fisheries of the Spanish Ministry for Agriculture (MAGRAMA) to promote guidelines for best practice on farmed fish slaughtering. The Spanish Normalisation and Certification Organisation (AENOR) was appointed as the secretariat for this task. And stakeholder involvement brought together researchers, university professors, civil servants, trade unions, farmers, animal welfare NGOs, producer organisations and certification companies.
The guideline document was actively worked by stakeholders from May through September 2016 and will be officially completed, including an open public consultation period, by November. It addresses best practices on the slaughtering of the most common farmed fish species in Spain, both marine and fresh water: sea bass, sea bream, rainbow trout, turbot, sturgeon, meagre and sole. It is based on the principle that stunning and slaughtering of fish must be performed to avoid pain and to minimise distress or avoidable suffering for the fish. The guidelines take into consideration the selected species, the size of the slaughtered fish, the physical environment and available technologies. The protocols will be reviewed when new knowledge or technologies offer new procedural opportunities. A key value of this document is that the guidelines, besides fish welfare, also address workers’ safety, food safety, and final fish product quality.
Appropriate training of personnel is critical
All farm personnel involved in fish slaughtering and related operations must be aware of their responsibility to avoid pain and minimise stress for the fish. Appropriate training has been flagged as a crucial element for appropriate slaughtering and related activities. The guidelines are based on two official documents: The Aquatic Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and EU Council Regulation 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing. The final best practice guidelines will be available for use by the industry in January 2017, and fish farming companies will voluntarily apply them either directly or through an audited process that will enable them to certify their fish as correctly slaughtered.
Mr. Javier Ojeda, General Manager, APROMAR
