The behavioural responses of fish to a stressful situation must be considered an adverse reaction caused by the perception of pain. Consequently, the handling prior to stunning and the immediacy of loss consciousness following stunning are the aspects to take into account during the slaughtering process. The most common commercial stunning method in seabream and seabass is based on hypothermia, but other methods such as electrical stunning, carbon dioxide narcosis or anaesthetic with clove oil, are discussed in relation to the time to reach the unconsciousness stage and some welfare indicators. Although seawater plus ice slurry is currently accepted in some guidelines of fish welfare well practices at slaughter, it cannot be considered completely adequate due to the deferred speed at which cause loss of consciousness. New methods of incorporating some kind of anaesthetic in the stunning tank could be a solution to minimize the impact on the welfare of seabass and seabream at slaughtering.
Keywords: seabass; seabream; slaughtering; stunning; welfare.