Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

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The HUMANE dispatching of fish that you have patiently hand fed, is of concern for many..



Never having tried Labotomising a fish, I wonder where the philips screw driver should be whacked..

1 to 9....

and - is there much difference between say a Silver and a Trout

( I pinched another's photo )
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Around 8 or 9 should do it.

I found this website which seems quite good, it gives info on where to spike or donk them on the head to kill them quickly.

http://www.ikijime.com/

It has pdf's for freshwater, estuarine and saltwater fish.

This is the freshwater guide:

http://www.ikijime.com/wp-content/uploa ... hwater.pdf

I do a fair bit of fishing and different fish require spiking in different locations, and if you don't get it right it's not very humane at all. This is why I prefer to use a knife with a sharp point on a sturdy blade and cover more area of the midline on the head, can't miss it this way.

In the vid below I cover far more area of the head midline than I needed to, but that was for demonstration purposes. The spot is actually very easy to locate on a Trout and just the width of the knife blade plunged straight down at the starting point in this vid would've done it, but I wanted to ensure that anyone watching on and trying it on other species would get it right. The tail will spasm intensely for a second or so when you hit the spot, then stop.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=62 ... =2&theater

I have a nice Huon Pine rolling pin, it's great for rolling out pastry, but works just as well for giving fish a quick hard whack on the head, and there's no danger of slicing or stabbing a finger.

Can't you just drop them in a container of ice and water?

That wont kill trout in a hurry, although it will slow them down somewhat. I put my trout in an esky half full of salt water and ice for a while (while catching and then carrying to the house) before whacking them on the head.

Very true, that's why I like that website I linked, it has lists of heaps of different fish and the brain locations, xrays and so on.


The key point being sharp and sturdy, don't try to use a filleting knife, lol. Oh the silly things I've seen people do.


As Gunagulla said, it's not so great for trout or other cold water/low oxygen tolerant fish.

Fortunately, we in AP are likely only to face Trout, Perch, barra, or perhaps Cats..

To date, I would have used a heavy knife thru the spine..

We could be especially nice and buy some Oil-Of-Cloves..

Do a GG with a SALT/ICE/Cloves final swim
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On the other hand it is the industry recommended way of doing it.

Yeah but there are a lot of standard practices in the commercial fishing industry that leave a lot to be desired, so if that's their recommendation for cold water fish then I'd be taking it with a grain of salt.

Cold water/low oxygen tolerant fish can sometimes take an hour or more to die in an ice slurry.

True but its not the time it takes to die but rather how humane the method is.

I don't know the most humane method but all my research into commercial methods said to use an ice slurry and to a certain extent from a commercial point of view I'm constrained by this.

For example wooden benches and chopping boards are more hygienic than stainless steel but due to government health regulations I can't use wood in our processing facility

That link says to bleed the fish. I've got an idea how to bleed big fish like tuna but not so much something like a trout

for commercial fish farms they use a percussive stun to the head, anywhere from 1-9 works as long as the hit is firm enough. one firm strike till you feel them shake like a vibrator, then their throats are quickly slit and into ice slurry.

The ice slurry is used mainly to get the temperature of the flesh down quickly to limit acid build up etc that can spoil the flesh.

As soon as you start messing around with the fish by dropping water levels or crowding them they are already stressing so its best to get them hit on the head and onto ice ASAP without messing about with trying to calm them down first.

When you gut one fish cut open the head and find where the brain is.

I cut the throat and snap the had back, breaking the spine. The bleed out this way too.

I wouldnt call it the most humane method, the fish would still be aware as its throat is cut and also while the person fumbles to try snap its neck. Not saying you are clumsy as even i struggle to snap their neck sometimes when i dont have a stick handy.