Trout Can’t Scream — So We Pretend They Don’t Suffer
Rainbow trouts don’t scream. They don’t whimper or writhe in a way most humans care to understand. And that’s precisely why they’re so easy to ignore. Out of sight, out of mind — and out of water, out of mercy.
New research has quantified what rainbow trouts actually endure when they’re left to suffocate in air — a standard practice during slaughter for both wild-caught and farmed fishes. Using the Welfare Footprint Framework, scientists calculated that each trout can suffer anywhere from 2 to 25 minutes before finally losing consciousness. That’s a slow, drawn-out panic, every second charged with extreme pain, terror, and metabolic exhaustion.
Imagine your lungs burning for oxygen, blood acidifying, muscles seizing up from lactic acid build-up, and a primal urge to escape overwhelming every nerve. That’s what these fishes endure while we call it "fresh seafood." Researchers found that in the first three phases of asphyxia alone, there’s a 40% chance trouts feel excruciating pain, another 40% chance of disabling pain, and a 20% chance of “just” hurtful pain. The final phase before unconsciousness drags on in a haze of hurt, annoyance, or fading awareness — but by then, the damage is done.
But fishes don’t have “the right kind of face.” They don’t make the “right kind of noise.” They don’t live on land, wag tails, or purr on our laps. They’re alien enough that even self-proclaimed “animal lovers” look away as they suffocate in open air.
Pescatarians like to imagine they’re making a moral choice. No land animals, just fishes — because somehow stabbing a fish is softer, gentler, less savage. It’s the classic "lesser evil" narrative. Yet, the fishing industry kills more individuals every year than all land-based slaughterhouses combined. It destroys ocean floors, devastates ecosystems, and decimates entire species. And while we talk about “sustainable seafood,” the individuals caught and killed are never given a moment’s thought.
The "fish don’t feel" excuse doesn’t hold. Pain in fishes is well-documented — behavioral, neurophysiological, and pharmacological evidence stacks up beyond reasonable doubt. In fact, the same neural pathways that make a dog yelp when kicked light up in fishes as they struggle for breath. The difference? We see the dog as "someone" and the trout as "something."
When Pescatarians claim to care about animals but "make an exception" for fishes, it reveals not compassion but convenience. Psychological distance — the idea that the further away or less relatable someone is, the easier it is to ignore their suffering — is the perfect smokescreen. Out of the water, fishes become invisible victims, suffocating as our moral consistency goes up in smoke.
There is no ethical “middle ground” here. Stabbing, suffocating, and gutting someone because they’re inconvenient to empathise with is not a compromise — it’s betrayal. Call it what it is: exploitation.
Rainbow trouts — and all fishes — deserve better than suffocating for our palate. It’s time to stop pretending there’s a humane way to exploit them. It’s time to end the violence altogether.