Major EU trout producer committed to fish stunning

By Míriam Martínez | AWO @ 2024-05-29T11:01 (+4)

We are delighted to share that Aqualande, the major rainbow trout producer in the European Union, has published its commitment to fish stunning before slaughter. Aqualande accounts for around 67& of rainbow trout production for human consumption in France.

Commitment link:

You can read their commitment on their website, by scrolling down (a lot) to "Animal wellbeing".

 Scale: Europe (France and Spain)

Timeline: First contact by the end of March, private contact for some weeks, and one week of public pressure. The company is already using electrical stunning in France but will start this year in Spain, achieving 100% of farms by 2026.

 Who: Animal Welfare Observatory. 

We want to thank other organizations that helped us by sending an e-mail or by giving us information and advice: Essere Animali, Franz Weber Foundation, Welfarm, L214, FAADA, and the Centre for Aquaculture Progress.

Unsuccessful Tactics: Collaborative approach within the project's working group with the Spanish Association of Aquaculture Producers. Asking only to Piszolla, its Spanish branch.

Successful Tactics: Scaling our ask to the owner group of the company, Aqualande, in France. Letting them know about the campaign we were going to launch. Starting a legal complaint against one of their fish farms. Talking in advance with journalists from different media to make them call the company asking about their slaughter practices and legal requirements.

 Scalability: Aqualande is the biggest rainbow trout producer in the EU, with 15.000 Tons per year, Piszolla being the most important producer in Spain. This commitment opens the door for other rainbow trout producers to change their slaughter practices and make them public.

Follow Up: We have confidence in interventions that alleviate life conditions in farmed fish, albeit without clear and massive population effects throughout the animals' lives, such as replacing ice slurry with electrical or percussive stunning. However, we are continuing discussions of promoting plans to collect data to reduce uncertainty about the population effects of other fish welfare interventions, to inform our fish welfare intervention plans.

If you need further info please let me know.

 Thank you!