Henry Smith MP has attended a parliamentary reception hosted by The Humane League UK, the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation (CAWF), Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), RSPCA and Soil Association to highlight a lack of legal protection for farmed fish at the time of their slaughter in the UK.
The reception, hosted by crossbench Peer Lord Trees, highlighted the 55 million fish farmed annually in the UK – including 12 million trout in England – which do not receive the same legal protections at the time of slaughter as other terrestrial farmed animals. This is despite the scientific and legal recognition that fish are sentient, as set out in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
Henry said;
“As we work to improve the lives of farmed animals across the country, it’s important we do not forget about farmed fish who are too often a legislative afterthought.
“I’ve joined calls to ensure farmed fish receive equal protections to terrestrial farmed animals at the time of slaughter. In doing so we can spare millions of sentient beings unnecessary suffering at their most vulnerable time.”
Much of the industry takes voluntary measures to protect farmed fish welfare at this time, but there is a disparity between the legal protections afforded to farmed fish versus terrestrial farmed animals at the time of slaughter.
Some of these disparities include:
· The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations (England) 2015 which offers requirements for how terrestrial farmed animals are to be treated and stunned at slaughter does not provide provisions for farmed fish.
· Government-provided mandatory codes of practice for terrestrial farmed animals which outline how they are to be treated at the time of slaughter do not include provisions for farmed fish.
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