Award details

16AGRITECHCAT5: The neurophysiological and behavioural evaluation of a novel humane electric stunning system for fish

Reference	BB/P00508X/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Joanna Murrell
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Mr Stephen Wotton
Institution	University of Bristol
Department	Clinical Veterinary Science
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	190,503
Status	Completed
Type	Research Grant
Start date	01/08/2016
End date	28/02/2018
Duration	19 months

Abstract

It has long been recognised that the welfare of fish at slaughter is comparatively poor in relation to the welfare of land animals at slaughter, due in part to technical difficulties associated with developing effective electrical stunning systems for fish that are safe for use in an aquatic environment. Although long neglected, the welfare of fish of slaughter is also receiving significant attention from consumers who are demanding better welfare during the slaughter process. This fact, coupled with the massive expansion of aquaculture to meet the challenges of feeding a rapidly expanding population means that improvements in the welfare of fish at slaughter are urgently required. There are well-defined neurophysiological parameters in mammals and birds that can be used to confirm whether stunning has been effective. However there is little consensus on neurophysiological parameters that indicate an effective stun in fish. This project will investigate the methodologies currently used by researchers to evaluate effective stunning in other species and determine whether these criteria can be applied to a range of fish species. In addition, if necessary, new techniques will be investigated to further our understanding of stunning effectiveness in farmed fish based on detailed analysis of brain activity. The neurophysiological assessment in the laboratory will be used to identify behavioural signs that can subjectively identify whether fish are stunned or not. Therefore the first part of this proposal will focus on the determination of neurophysiological methodologies that can be used to define an effective stun in fish to reduce excitement, pain or suffering. The methodology developed will be used to assess the effectiveness of commercially used electrical stunning systems to produce a humane stun.

Summary

Impact Summary

There are six different key stakeholders that can be clearly identified to benefit from this research as follows: 1) Farmed fish - through improvements in welfare at slaughter. 2) Staff working at fish farms - by providing knowledge that the welfare of their fish at slaughter was assured, as well as economic benefits of a fast throughput system following the introduction of electrical stunning in situ. 3) Consumers - through knowledge that they are eating fish that have been humanely killed. 4) Retailers - by being able to meet consumer demand for better welfare of fish at slaughter 5) Ace Aquatec - through commercialisation and sale of their new stunning system for fish 6) Academics by improved knowledge of neurophysiological parameters that equate to effective stunning in fish that can be used to evaluate new systems in the future 1) In comparison to land based animals the welfare of farmed fish slaughter is recognized to be poor. Many fish farms still place live fish in ice as a means of slaughter without prior stunning, where it can take many hours for fish to be killed. Mechanised percussive machines have been used to kill larger fish such as salmon and sea trout however they do not cater for portion sized fish such as sea bass and bream. Development of a new electrical stunning system that stuns the fish as they exit the holding tanks through a pipe would significantly increase the welfare of millions of fish annually throughout the world. 2) Staff working at fish farms will benefit on an "emotional" level if they are secure in the knowledge that the fish raised on the farm are slaughtered humanely. Furthermore the proposed design by Ace Aquatec is a fast throughput system, increasing the number of fish that can be killed per hour compared to current stun systems and therefore economic revenue generated by the fish farm will increase. 3) Consumers are demanding that fish are humanely slaughtered but current methods to achieve the humane slaughter of fish arelimited particularly for salt water species. The development of an electrical stunning system for fish that was supported by robust independent scientific data to show that it produced effective and human stunning with no detriment to meat quality would satisfy consumer demand. Fish could be identified by their label that they had been humanely killed to allow consumers choice in the origin of fish that they bought from suppliers. 4) In order to meet consumer demand supermarkets are already requesting the technology to ensure that fish are fish are stunned humanely before slaughter. Stocking fish that had been humanely killed would bring an economic benefit to supermarkets by increasing the potential market for fish sales if consumers had more confidence in the providence of farmed fish. 5) Ace Aquatec are the only company, currently, with the technical capability to produce an electrical stunning system for farmed fish that can function in situ without having to remove the fish from the water for stunning. The price of such a stunning unit is likely to retail at around £50K with a large number of companies worldwide who are likely to want to purchase such a system. Therefore Ace Aquatec will benefit significantly economically from development of a human stunning system for fish. 6) An important part of this proposal is the development of new neurophysiological techniques to evaluate the effectiveness of stunning in fish. These methodologies will benefit academics working in the field of slaughter research, both in fish and other species.

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Welfare, Neuroscience and Behaviour
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	Agri-Tech Catalyst (ATC) [2013-2015]
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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