Stunning equipment
Aquaculture Electrical Stunner
Stunning fish before killing
What it is
A controlled electrical field is passed through the water holding the fish, or applied immediately after they are lifted out. The current is intended to make them unconscious before they are killed.
Where it sits in the system
The alternatives in aquaculture slaughter are leaving fish to suffocate in air, chilling them in ice slurry, or killing them by hand. Electrical stunning replaces those.
Welfare concern
Configured correctly, the equipment makes fish unconscious quickly and improves what happens to them. Configured wrongly, it can immobilise a fish that is still aware, or let one recover — species, size, salinity, current, exposure time, and electrode contact decide which.
Worth being precise about
This counts as a welfare intervention only where the settings have been validated for that species, an effective killing step follows, and the equipment is checked regularly. Without those, the humane claim is untested.
