FARMED FISH
Many consumers are only just becoming aware of the welfare of fish. With collapsing wild fish stocks, nearly half the fish eaten in the world are farmed. Some supermarkets are beginning to address the serious welfare concerns of farmed fish.
HOW DID THEY SCORE?
Waitrose and M&S came top on farmed fish for having the shortest starvation periods and least crowded sea-cages and tanks. Salmon for Waitrose and M&S are starved for an average of three days, compared to over a week without food for Sainsbury’s and Somerfield. Maximum starvation periods can be over two weeks.
Salmon are typically kept in crowded sea-cages with the equivalent of less than a bathtub of water for each fish measuring up to three-quarters of a metre long. Overcrowding has been shown to lead to stress, injury and disease in fish. Waitrose and M&S give salmon and trout more space than other supermarkets.
Humane methods of slaughter for fish include electrical or physical stunning. Other methods used by Co-op, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s for salmon or trout, such as asphyxiation on ice, cause the fish to suffer for a prolonged time before becoming unconscious.
