To the anglers among you:
Please kill the fish you catch properly, rather than letting them suffocate in agony. Just because they can’t scream out loud doesn’t mean you can let them suffer. In some countries, there are laws that stipulate specific methods of killing.
Main reasons for professional killing (stunning + heart stab/gill cut):
Avoiding agony: Choking in the air is a slow and painful process. Pisces can feel pain and suffer when taken out of the water for up to an hour before losing consciousness.
Professional procedure: The method consists of two steps:
Stunning: A targeted blow to the head (afterbrain) makes the fish insensitive to pain.
Killing: A heart stab or gill cut leads to rapid bleeding and death.
Quality of the meat: A stressed fish that slowly suffocates releases stress hormones, which reduces the quality of the meat. Professional killing and bleeding ensures better meat quality.
Why choking (in the air or ice) is wrong:
No instant death: Fish do not die immediately without water, but their gills dry out, which prevents gas exchange.
High potential for suffering: Studies show that suffocation is one of the cruelest methods, as the animal suffocates while fully conscious.
Ice bath fallacy: Killing fish in an ice bath is often only a slow stun, not an instant death.