Editing Fish farming (section)

=== Inhumane methods ===
According to T. Håstein of the National Veterinary Institute (Oslo, Norway), "Different methods for slaughter of fish are in place and it is no doubt that many of them may be considered as appalling from an animal welfare point of view."{{sfn|Håstein|2004|pp=224}} A 2004 report by the [[EFSA]] Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare explained: "Many existing commercial killing methods expose fish to substantial suffering over a prolonged period of time. For some species, existing methods, whilst capable of killing fish humanely, are not doing so because operators don't have the knowledge to evaluate them."{{sfn|European Food Safety Authority|2004|pp=22}} Following are some less humane ways of killing fish.
* Air asphyxiation amounts to suffocation in the open air. The process can take upwards of 15 minutes to induce death, although unconsciousness typically sets in sooner.{{sfn|Benson|pp=23}}
* Ice baths or chilling of farmed fish on ice or submerged in near-freezing water is used to dampen muscle movements by the fish and to delay the onset of post-death decay. However, it does not necessarily reduce sensibility to pain; indeed, the chilling process has been shown to elevate [[cortisol]]. In addition, reduced body temperature extends the time before fish lose consciousness.{{sfn|Yue|pp=4}}
* [[Hypercapnia|CO{{sub|2}} narcosis]]
* Exsanguination without stunning is a process in which fish are taken up from water, held still, and cut so as to cause bleeding. According to references in Yue,{{sfn|Yue|pp=6}} this can leave fish writhing for an average of four minutes, and some catfish still responded to noxious stimuli after more than 15 minutes.
* Immersion in salt followed by gutting or other processing such as smoking is applied to eel.<ref name="Fishcount">{{cite web|url=http://fishcount.org.uk/farmed-fish-welfare/farmed-fish-slaughter|title=Slaughter of farmed fish – fishcount.org.uk|access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref>