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RSPCA Policy E08 Fish and aquatic invertebrates

8.1Fish
8.1.1RSPCA Australia considers that the available scientific evidence demonstrates that fish are sentient animals capable of experiencing pain and suffering. Fish must therefore be treated humanely and practices that have the potential to cause pain, injury or suffering avoided.
8.1.2

RSPCA Australia believes that fish should be uniformly protected under state and territory animal welfare legislation.

8.2Fishing methods
8.2.1RSPCA Australia advocates the use of fishing methods and equipment that minimise pain and suffering and avoid injury for both target and non-target animals.
8.2.2Fish caught for food or other consumptive purposes must be killed humanely as soon as possible after capture.
8.2.3RSPCA Australia is opposed to fishing methods such as drift net and long-line fishing which result in indiscriminate and non-target deaths (by-catch).
8.2.4RSPCA Australia believes there is a continuing need to improve the humaneness of current methods for the capture and killing of fish and supports further research and development in this area.
8.2.5RSPCA Australia supports the compulsory regulation of minimum standards for the design and use of all types of fishing nets, with specific attention being given to the provision of escape mechanisms and other strategies to reduce by-catch and other non-target effects.
8.3Shark nets
8.3.1RSPCA Australia is opposed to the use of shark nets for beach protection because they result in the deaths of marine mammals, rays, sharks, turtles and other animals (see also E2.10).
8.4Aquatic invertebrates
8.4.1RSPCA Australia considers that the available scientific evidence indicates that there are some species of aquatic invertebrates that may be capable of experiencing pain and suffering. These include cephalopods (octopus, squid and cuttlefish) and some large crustaceans (lobsters, crayfish and crabs). These animals should therefore be treated humanely and practices that have the potential to cause pain, injury or suffering avoided.
8.4.2

RSPCA Australia believes that these species should be uniformly protected under state and territory animal welfare legislation.

(adopted 06/12/10)

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Updated on February 17, 2021

RSPCA policies reflect the best available evidence to direct and guide RSPCA and others, to promote and achieve good animal welfare outcomes.

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https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/rspca-policy-e08-fish-and-aquatic-invertebrates/

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