METRO Italy joins our campaign on farmed fish
The company, operating in the wholesale trade for the Horeca sector – with more than 200,000 customers and 47 points of sale in Italy – joins our campaign asking to phase out the main causes of suffering for farmed fish. It is the first in the country.
The first in Italy
The leading wholesaler METRO Italy has published a policy on farmed fish where it outlines a series of essential criteria to improve the living conditions of farmed fish, starting with sea bass and sea bream.
The company, specialising in the wholesale trade for the Horeca sector, is the first to join our campaign on farmed fish, which was launched in 2018 to call on food companies to eliminate the main causes of suffering for farmed fish.
METRO’s policy
METRO’s policy covers primarily two key points that reflect the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) guidelines and EFSA‘s scientific opinions.
Effective stunning
Effective stunning is used to ensure immediate loss of consciousness before death occurs.
Unlike terrestrial animals, the vast majority of farmed fish are still slaughtered without ensuring their immediate loss of consciousness. As a result, their suffering can be prolonged – in the worst cases even up to 40 minutes – before the animals die of asphyxia.
As a current policy, all METRO’s own-brand fresh sea bass, sea bream and salmon products come from animals that have been effectively stunned. In fact, fish are usually immersed without pre-slaughter stunning in containers filled with ice slurry, which paralises the animals without causing any immediate loss of consciousness.
Reduced stocking densities
Lower stocking densities favour the expression of species-specific behaviour and the maintenance of good water quality.
Currently, farms supplying METRO’s own-brand fresh sea bass and sea bream ensure a stocking density ≤ 15 kg/m3, an important step forward considering that there are no specific laws regulating this aspect in conventional farming systems.
The most exploited and the least protected
Fish are the most exploited animals and at the same time the least protected by animal welfare regulations. As the World Organisation for Animal Health states, fish are sentient beings, and as such are capable of experiencing feelings such as fear and pain.
Moreover, the importance of taking their welfare into account is a point explicitly mentioned in all the official documents addressing sustainability in aquaculture, from the European Commission’s strategic guidelines 2021-2030 to the guidance on reporting developed for companies by the Global Reporting Initiative.
No legislation in Italy
In Italy, as well as in Europe, there is still no comprehensive, effective and species-specific legislation for farmed fish.
The problems suffered on farm by these animals range from overcrowding to poor water quality, from lack of environmental enrichment to food deprivation, up to painful slaughter methods.
This is why companies’ initiatives, such as the policy just published by METRO Italy, are particularly important: they show that an alternative is possible and we will continue to strive for other companies to follow the same path soon.