quick killing methods for the squeamish

turando101

hygicell wrote:

it would be nice to find some "humane" suggestions on this thread that can also be used for killing fish for consumption"snip"

Frank,
I am a fisherman that releases most of the fish I catch. When I need to kill I use the simple "priest". Defined as follows, any heavy object adminstered to the head in a sharp blow. So you use this to do the last rites.
Anycase it does not need to be some realy scientific tool...a wack against a fish head does the same as it would against yours!
....hit it hard, first time.
KarelM

KudaPucat

Frank, due to the lack of quantity you are faced with, is not a hammer or a knife tot he brain sufficient?
also cloveoil, followed by a bath in a nice marinade of alcohol and spice would suit you well.

Jaymie,
how about a device similar to a captive bolt used for slaughtering beef cattle and pigs? Clearly this is too big for a fish... but maybe there's a smaller device that could be adapted.
Just throwing ideas out there in case some1 knows of a tool completely unrelated to fish that might serve as a captive bolt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_bolt_pistol

turando101

...the small fish that Jaymie is talking about...a short sharp drop onto the floor is a very good and humane way of doing it. As for the talapia...priest them.
When everybody objects to these cruel methods.... :twisted:

take a big fish out of the water, put it in container without water where everybody can see it flapping around.....speak for 5 minutes...and ask if you can priest the fish and if everybody agrees that priesting is better than this method!

KudaPucat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_(tool)

sounds like a hammer ;-)

turando101

NOOO not a hammer :shock:

You know those washbasin things where you have a little stick that you push down to plug the drain?
And then to drain it you pull on the knob? Very fancy and it makes us all feel sooo subordinate?....unscrew that and use the knob end to whaccck! the fish on the head.
End of story

Cheers,
KarelM

Jaymie

okay, a priest would not be an acceptable method for volunteers to kill hundreds of 3cm fish.

We're trying for the bulk methods here.

I'm thinking the clove oil and vodka (would metho work?) method would be the best bet.

Jaymie

for those who need a picture of a priest

turando101

...drain water... and then shock via mains.... you may lose some volunteers though!
Easieast would be to move fish to buckets and then place buckets in freezers.
Cheers...I am off to find a beer or a freezer!
KarelM

Jaymie

hmmm, maybe I missed out the bit about being out in the field? This is for a conservation agency that takes volunteers out to streams and rivers and monitors water quality. One of the tasks undertaken is the removal of pest and weed species. Plant weeds are relatively easy to kill and dispose of. Animal pests are a bit harder.

We live in a big country. We usually have a drive of 1 or 2 hours to get to each work site. Freezers are not a viable option.

As far as I know, electric shock methods stun the fish, not kill them. Unless you ramp up the voltage, which would bring in Health and Safety issues.

Sleepe

They use Co2 to kill cane toads. Water in a bucket with clove oil and just bubble some co2 through. Unconcious and asphxiated.

Dufflight

Jaymie wrote:

I'm thinking the clove oil and vodka (would metho work?) method would be the best bet.

metho would work or if you know anyone with a still the alcohol base they use would be cheap and the strength you can vary. Starts out at 60%.

The priest method might freak them out a little. Got a mental picture of a table with people playing that whack a mouse game but using tiny fish. We used alcohol to kill insects in light traps. And chloroform but you need a license to get that kind of stuff and bubbling it through water might be a problem.

KudaPucat

Jaymie wrote:

for those who need a picture of a priest

Looks like a soft hammer too ;-)

This website: http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/articles/81 has a number of methods, no few have already been mentioned above.
The following seem to be the easiest way to euthanise fish on bulk

www.ratemyfishtank.com wrote:

* Tricaine Methanesulfonate (TMS). This method is probably the most quoted by people with much experience in euthanizing fish humanely (i.e. for university experiments, etc.). TMS is also known as MS222 and commercially is known as Finquel. You can buy it from a pet supply store; Drs. Foster and Smith carry it; a bottle costs $24.99 plus shipping and handling. You can also buy this from PondRx ($14.99 plus shipping and handling for a 5 gram bottle) and Argent Labs. According to fish biologist Meyers' blog, simply by doubling the regular dose that you would use to anesthetize the fish will euthanize it. This substance is FDA approved for anesthetizing and euthanizing fish; it is the only product that is FDA approved to anesthetize fish.
* Benzocaine Hydrochloride is a drug requiring a veterinarian's prescription; you cannot buy it over the shelf for your fish. The AVMA advocates the use of Benzocaine hydrochloride but not straight Benzocaine. Benzocaine is not water soluble and must be mixed in water with acetone or ethanol, both can irritate fish tissue.
* Clove Oil/Vodka Method. Many fish keepers advocate using clove oil to anesthetize fish. You both anesthetize them first with the clover oil and dispatch the fish with another method or you give them such a strong concentration of clove oil that the clove oil alone will kill them. This article probably covers using the clove oil/vodka method is most detail: What is the Most Humane Way to Euthanize a Fish by wiseGeek.com. This process is not advocated by the AVMA in their 2000 report due to lack of research.

Could I suggest a test Jaymie?
Get some 'guinea fish' and clove oil them. Then when sedated, take them out of the water. See if they wake and start thrashing, or just asphyxiate...

JaseAP

I was wondering a similar thing not long ago - I am contemplating the viability of setting up a small semi commercial AP system and being an animal lover and fish enthusiast I was wondering what humane methods were used to dispatch fish in an aquaculture environment - as I couldnt bring myself to operate a system where the fish were put through any form of torturous slow death!

I found a document produced by the DPI aimed at Murray Cod aquaculture and it had a section on humane slaughtering of food fish - I tried to upload the pdf page but it wont let me so here is the cut and pasted text, hope it helps:

Quote:

Humane slaughter and
destruction of stock
Coinciding with growing public concerns about
the slaughter of finfish, the Victorian Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals Act (1986) was amended in
1995 to include the humane killing of fish and
crustaceans. On an international scale, the
subject of humane slaughter of finfish has been
researched extensively. One report reviews a
project carried out in the UK that brought
together animal welfare groups, retailers,
research groups and aquaculture stakeholders to
investigate the issue (Robb 2000). It is important
to note that the type of slaughter method and
degree of stress on the fish during harvest can
have a significant effect on product quality.
The following ten slaughter methods were each
ranked with respect to welfare and quality: death
in air; death on ice; carbon dioxide; carbon
dioxide & ice; AQUI-S & ike jime; percussive stun;
ike jime; head only electric stun; whole body stun
(short); and whole body stun (long). Measured
welfare found that none of the most popular
methods, death in air, death on ice or carbon
dioxide, resulted in humane slaughter. In order
to achieve effective welfare it was determined
that either a rapid kill was required or stress
minimised if the kill was not immediate. The
four possible options that achieved humane
slaughter were percussive stunning, ike jime
(brain spiking), AQUI-S and electrical stunning.
Percussive stunning is inflicting a fast, firm blow
to the head, using a club such as a wooden dowel
or a mechanical bolt gun. While being a very
effective method of humane killing of large fish,
the quality of the final product will depend on
operator experience and fatigue. Ike jime is a
technique that sees a sharp spike inserted into the
brain, that interrupts nervous activity, reduces
muscle twitching and slows rigour mortis, giving
rise to higher quality flesh. This method is
effective only when under-taken by experienced
operators and is more suited to larger species.
AQUI-S is a type of eugenol anaesthetic that is
produced from clove oil. Using AQUI-S with
aerated or oxygenated water at the prescribed
dose rate results in the fish becoming heavily
sedated. The fish can then be killed quickly
during processing. One advantage of this
technique is that it allows specific sized fish to be
targeted and smaller ones can be graded out and
returned to recover in a tank or pond. Care must
be taken not to under or overdose the stock. In
early trials, electrical stunning resulted in broken
vertebrae and haemorrhaging in many fish.

Dufflight

I was looking at how damaged fingerling's were handled today. Because they floated over the over flow onto the floor. The pet dogie ate them. :shock:

It was a very quick way for them to go.

b2barker

hygicell wrote:

it would be nice to find some "humane" suggestions on this thread that can also be used for killing fish for consumption
as that is a problem I have not solved yet

frank

Iki Jime

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

quick killing methods for the squeamish

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics