Key facts
- No routine or mandatory inspections are conducted at fish slaughterhouses in England and Wales.
- Animal Equality UK calls the lack of inspections a "disgrace" and a "huge blindspot".
- Government advisory bodies have called for legislation and inspection systems for farmed fish slaughter since 1996.
- The UK government committed to humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish in December 2025, but draft legislation is pending.
- The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) stated they do not conduct routine inspections of fish slaughterhouses.
No routine or mandatory inspections are conducted at fish slaughterhouses in England and Wales, according to Animal Equality UK. The animal welfare group described the situation as a "disgrace" and a "huge blindspot" for farmed fish, which are capable of feeling pain.
Concerns within government about the way fish are slaughtered date back decades, but official bodies responsible for animal welfare and food standards in England and Wales confirmed they do not undertake regular inspections. When Animal Equality UK contacted the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), it referred the charity to the Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI). Both the APHA and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) stated they do not carry out routine or mandatory inspections of fish slaughterhouses.
Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, stated, “Fish are thinking, feeling beings, capable of pain. It is a disgrace that not a single government agency will take responsibility for checking on their welfare at slaughter. This is a huge blindspot, and it leaves these animals all the more vulnerable behind closed doors.”
In 1996, the government’s expert advisory body, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (now the Animal Welfare Committee), suggested legislation governing the slaughter of farmed fish. The committee revisited the issue in 2014 and again in 2024, urging governments across the UK to legislate for fish to be stunned before slaughter and for inspection systems to be put in place. The UK government committed to introducing humane slaughter requirements for farmed fish in its Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published in December 2025, but draft legislation has yet to be published.
Penny added, “For 30 years, people in power have known that farmed fish need legal protection when they are slaughtered, yet for 30 years decisionmakers have failed to act.” She urged ministers to bring forward species-specific slaughter legislation now, backed by a proper inspection regime.
Animal Equality UK estimates that about 7,742 tonnes of trout are killed annually in England and Wales, with the British Trout Association noting nearly 290 trout farms in the UK. An APHA spokesperson stated that fish farms are regulated and inspected, and that the agency investigates reports of poor welfare and takes action if cruelty or neglect is found.