Trout are not only found in Britain’s iconic chalk-streams but are routinely packed into farms across the country. These fish receive no welfare inspections at slaughter.
No animal welfare checks are being conducted for trout in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the charity The Humane League UK has established through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
A staggering 16 million trout are farmed in the UK each year, making them the third most numerous farmed species after chickens and salmon. But there is almost no oversight of their welfare at slaughter, and no legal provisions detailing how to minimise pain at the point of slaughter.
This means that animal abuse is less likely to be detected or punished, as welfare is currently regulated by the fish farming industry itself.
Inspections
Georgie Hancock, public affairs coordinator at The Humane League UK, said: “Trout are not only found in Britain’s iconic chalk-streams but are routinely packed into farms across the country. These fish receive no welfare inspections at slaughter whatsoever, not to mention there being no legal mandate for CCTV in their slaughterhouses.
The lack of oversight is unforgivable, especially as we are talking about animals who can feel pain, and who are our third most farmed animal. Trout aren’t just an icon of British rivers, they are also victims of factory farming who need our help. The Government must introduce legal protections for these animals at slaughter."
The Animal and Plant Health Agency, run by the he Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland, claim the law does not require them to conduct inspections. However, this is now being challenged.
Restaurants
The Humane League UK argues that even without specific protections at slaughter, fish should, according to the law, be “spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations”.
Scotland is the only one of the nations who carries out welfare inspections on farmed fish at slaughter, with the last one occurring May 16th 2024. Even so, inspections happen once a year and are announced in advance.
The importance of protecting welfare at slaughter was highlighted in a 2020 investigation into a trout farm by animal rights charity Viva!, which showed mishandling and kicking of animals at slaughter.
According to Statista, £2 million more trout was sold in 2024 compared to 2023 with restaurants and supermarkets reporting growing interest in trout.
Violations
The government’s Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) issued an opinion in 2023 affirming the need for the UK’s farmed fish to receive better legal protections at slaughter.
The report argued that the government must legislate to ensure that fish are stunned before slaughter and killed before regaining consciousness, that they should be killed in water or shortly after being removed from it, and that a back up stunning process must be available.
The Humane League UK’s Forgotten Fish campaign asks the government to include detailed slaughter regulations including stunning for fish in law. This would include regular inspections of farmed fish welfare at slaughter, as well as providing guidance on how to calibrate slaughter machines.
The charity argues that revising the law could allow for those producers who are found guilty of welfare violations to be prosecuted, deterring future cruelty.
This Author
Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist.
