Improving fish welfare through the application of a novel prospective slaughter method

Aquaculture provides a substantial volume of fish for human consumption. But, throughout the world, only a minimal fraction of the production is commercialized alive, while considerations for their welfare at the time of killing variates according to species and country of processing. So far, we have reported the virtues of a successful technology based on a new nanoencapsulation method of essential clove oil applied at the slaughter process in cultured fish, namely Gilthead sea bream. To expand benefits of this formula, we aim to test it in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) belonging to the 2018 year class of the breeding nucleus of Mørkvedbukta forskningsstasjon, Norway. In this way, we aim to improve not only the fish welfare but also the fillet quality resulting from the improved process with reduced stress. Following the statistical calculations resulting from the Power Analysis test, we plan to use 80 animals of each species of commercial slaughter size (approx. 1 kg for salmon, and 350 g for tilapia). The results achieved from this experimental setting will contribute also on reducing the imminent dumping of high-quality protein for human consumption resulting from the excessive release of metabolites linked to the stressful slaughtering of fish.