A recent study has found that more than eight in ten consumers in southern Europe support the introduction of more humane fish slaughter practices. The study was conducted by the market research firm Savanta. It was commissioned by the Centre for Aquaculture Progress (CAP), a non-profit group that advocates for the welfare of farmed fish by encouraging producers to adopt pre-slaughter electrical stunning technology. The primary method currently in use for slaughtering sea bass and sea bream in Europe, live chilling in ice slurry, does not meet World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) standards. Electrical stunning renders the fish unconscious before they are immersed in the ice slurry and is thus thought to reduce the amount of suffering the animals are exposed to.
The CAP study aimed to investigate consumer attitudes towards electrical stunning as an alternative method of slaughter for sea bream and sea bass. It also sought to determine whether consumers would be willing to pay more for fish that are harvested in a more humane manner. The study received responses from a representative sample of 1,600 people from France, Italy, Spain, and Greece, the primary markets for Greek sea bream and sea bass. Researchers found that the majority of consumers (83%) were in favour of pre-slaughter electrical stunning. The report also found that 80% of consumers would be willing to pay an extra EUR 0.05 per 200g serving for humanely harvested fish. The report notes that this modest price increase would easily offset the cost to producers of adopting electrical stunning technology (about EUR 0.02 per serving).
These findings indicate that, as consumers become more conscious in their purchasing decisions, producers may increase their profitability by transitioning to more ethical forms of harvesting technology.