Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-15T17:47:48.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessment of different stunning methods and recovery of farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): isoeugenol, nitrogen and three levels of carbon dioxide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

U Erikson
U Erikson*
Affiliation:
SINTEF Fisheries and Aquaculture, 7465 Trondheim, Norway
*
email: ulf.erikson@sintef.no
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Isoeugenol (17 mg AQUI-S™ L−1), nitrogen, and three levels of carbon dioxide (low: 70-80, medium: 180-250 and high: > 400 mg CO2 L−1) were tested as stunning agents for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fasted for six days. All methods were tested under optimised conditions (starting with rested fish, and stunning and recovery under good water quality conditions). The fish were assessed in relation to behaviour and stress in terms of blood chemistry and muscle biochemistry. Only isoeugenol fulfilled all of our set criteria related to fish welfare and stress as it: (i) minimised aversive reactions upon exposure and ability to render the fish unconscious; (ii) showed no recovery during a period of 10 min post stunning; and (iii) achieved minimal muscle activity (good muscle quality). The fish treated with nitrogen showed the strongest aversive reactions, produced the most stressed fish, and fish that did not appear to be sedated. Nitrogen stunning cannot therefore be recommended. None of the levels of carbon dioxide fulfilled all criteria. When exposed to high and medium levels, fish exhibited aversive reactions and became considerably stressed. At the low level, changes in behaviour and stress were modest, but in such cases the fish were not sufficiently immobilised to facilitate easy handling in a possible pre-stunning context. No level of carbon dioxide rendered the fish unconscious. Even under optimised stunning conditions, the use of carbon dioxide cannot be recommended in connection with slaughter of Atlantic salmon.

Keywords

animal welfarerecoveryrested harvestsalmonstressstunning
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , August 2011 , pp. 365 - 375
Copyright
© 2011 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bell, GR 1987 An outline of anesthetics and anesthesia for salmonids, a guide for fish culturists in British Columbia. Canadian Technological Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences No 1534 pp 16. Department of Fisheries and Oceans: Nanaimo, BC, CanadaGoogle Scholar
Booth, RK, Kieffer, JD, Davidson, K, Bielak, AT and Tufts, BL 1995 Effects of late season catch and release angling on anaerobic metabolism, acid-base status, survival, and gamete viability in wild Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 52: 283–290CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosworth, BG, Small, BC, Gregory, D, Kim, J, Black, S and Jerrett, A 2007 Effects of rested-harvest using the anesthetic AQUI-S™ on channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, physiology and fillet quality. Aquaculture 262: 302–318CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botta, JR, Squires, BE and Johnson, J 1986 Effect of bleeding/gutting procedures on the sensory quality of fresh raw Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology Journal 19: 186–190CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, JA, Watson, J, Bourhill, A and Wall, T 2008 Evaluation and use of the Lactate Pro, a portable lactate meter, in monitoring the physiological well-being of farmed Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Aquaculture 285: 135–140CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clingerman, J, Bebak, J, Mazik, PM and Summerfelt, ST 2007 Use of avoidance response by rainbow trout for fish self-transfer between tanks. Aquacultural Engineering 37: 234–251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) 2009 Scientific opinion of the panel on animal health and welfare on a request from the European Commission on species-specific welfare aspects of the main systems of stunning and killing of farmed Atlantic salmon. The EFSA Journal 2012: 1–77Google Scholar
Erikson, U 1997 Muscle quality of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) as affected by handling stress. PhD Thesis, Department of Biotechnology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NorwayGoogle Scholar
Erikson, U 2001 Rigor measurements. In: Kestin, SC and Wariss, PD (eds) Farmed Fish Quality pp 283–297. Blackwell Science: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Erikson, U 2008 Live chilling and carbon dioxide sedation at slaughter of farmed Atlantic salmon: a description of a number of commercial case studies. Journal of Applied Aquaculture 20: 38–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erikson, U, Hultmann, L and Steen, JE 2006 Live chilling of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) combined with mild carbon dioxide anaesthesia I. Establishing a method for large-scale processing of farmed fish. Aquaculture 252: 183–198CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franklin, CE, Davison, W and Forster, ME 1990 Evaluation of the physiological responses of quinnat and sockeye salmon to acute stressors and sampling procedures. New Zealand Natural Sciences 17: 29–38Google Scholar
Gelwicks, KR, Zafft, DJ and Bobbitt, JP 1998 Efficacy of carbonic acid as an anesthetic for rainbow trout. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 18: 432–4382.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iversen, M, Finstad, B, McKinley, RS and Eliassen, RA 2003 The efficacy of metomidate, clove oil, AQUI-S™ and Benzoak® as anaesthetics in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L) smolts, and their potential stress-reducing capacity. Aquaculture 221: 549–566CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iwama, GK and Ackerman, PA 1994 Anaesthetics. In: Hochacka, PW and Mommsen, TP (eds) Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Fishes, Volume 3 pp 1–15. Elsevier Science BV: Amsterdam, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Iwama, GK, McGeer, JC and Pawluk, MP 1989 The effects of five fish anaesthetics on acid-base balance, hematocrit, blood gases, cortisol, and adrenaline in rainbow trout. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67: 2065–2073CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keene, JL, Noakes, DLG, Moccia, RD and Soto, CG 1998 The efficacy of clove oil as an anaesthetic for rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum). Aquaculture Research 29: 89–101CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kestin, SC, van de Vis, JW and Robb, DHF 2002 Protocol for assessing brain function in fish and the effectiveness of methods used to stun and kill them. Veterinary Record 150: 302–307CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarland, WN and Klontz, GW 1969 Anesthesia in fishes. Federal Proceedings 28: 1535–1540Google ScholarPubMed
Milligan, CL 1996 Metabolic recovery from exhaustive exercise in rainbow trout. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 113: 51–60CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milligan, CL and Wood, CM 1986 Tissue intracellular acid-base status and the fate of lactate after exhaustive exercise in rainbow trout. Journal of experimental Biology 123: 123–144CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Misimi, E, Erikson, U, Digre, H, Skavhaug, A and Mathiassen, R 2008 Computer vision-based evaluation pre- and posterior changes in size and shape of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fillets during rigor mortis and ice storage: effects of peri-mortem handling stress. Journal of Food Science 72: S030–S035Google Scholar
Packer, RK and Dunson, WA 1970 Effects of low environmental pH on blood pH and sodium balance of brook trout. Journal of Experimental Zoology 174: 65–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robb, DHF and Kestin, SC 2002 Methods used to kill fish: field observations and literature reviewed. Animal Welfare 11: 269–282Google Scholar
Robb, DHF and Roth, B 2003 Brain activity of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) following electrical stunning using various field strengths and pulse durations. Aquaculture 216: 363–369CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robb, DHF, Wotton, SB, McKinstry, JL, Sørensen, NK and Kestin, SC 2000 Commercial slaughter methods used on Atlantic salmon: determination of the onset of brain failure by electroencephalography. The Veterinary Record 147: 298–303CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roth, B, Slinde, E and Robb, DHF 2006 Field evaluation of live chilling with CO2 on stunning Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and the subsequent effect on quality. Aquaculture Research 37: 799–804CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoettger, RA and Julin, M 1967 Efficacy of MS-222 as an anesthetic on four salmonids. Investigations in Fish Control, US Department of the Interior 13: 1–15Google Scholar
Thomas, PM, Pankhurst, NW and Bremner, HA 1999 The effect of stress and exercise on post-mortem biochemistry of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout. Journal of Fish Biology 54: 1177–1196CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tufts, BL, Tang, Y, Tufts, K and Boutilier, RG 1991 Exhaustive exercise in ‘wild’ Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): acid-base regulation and blood gas transport. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 48: 868–874CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wall, AJ 2001 Ethical considerations in the handling and slaughter of farmed fish. In: Kestin, S and Wariss, P (eds) Farmed Fish Quality pp 108–115. Blackwell Science: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Wilkie, MP, Brobbel, MA, Davidson, K, Forsyth, L and Tufts, BL 1997 Influences of temperature upon the post-exercise physiology of Atlantic salmon. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 54: 503–511Google Scholar
Wills, CC, Zampacavallo, G, Poli, B-C, Proctor, MRM and Henehan, GTM 2006 Nitrogen stunning of rainbow trout. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 41: 395–398CrossRefGoogle Scholar