The right way to kill a fish
The most popular way to kill fish isn’t great for the fish — or our taste buds.
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Most fish die the same way — slow suffocation in the open air. It’s easy for fishers, but it causes fish tons of stress, and floods their bodies with chemicals like cortisol, adrenaline, and lactic acid. Those chemicals make the fish taste bad, smell “fishy,” and rot quickly.
But there’s a better way: a four-step Japanese method called ikejime. It involves sharp knives. And a brain spike.
We adapted this video from Vox’s Future Perfect podcast, which goes much more in depth on ikejime: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/14/18091698/future-perfect-podcast-killing-fish-ikejime-animal-welfare
Cat Ferguson wrote a detailed article on the process at Topic: https://www.topic.com/how-to-kill-a-fish
This article about fish and pain from the Smithsonian informed reporting: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/fish-feel-pain-180967764/
And here’s a link to the Ike Jime Federation, where Andrew is the president: https://www.ikejimefederation.com/
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@VincentDonovan-qn5wi
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
I worked in a huge exotic fish store and can assure you the proper way to dispatch a fish is net and slam, usually the nearest post.
@C0unt00
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
No-👻
@C0unt00
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
No-boo
@C0unt00
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Nobu
@henrikmdc3874
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
i work on a trawler in north atlantic we get up to 15 tons of fish, mostly cod per hoist. We flip the fish cut the throat all the way down through the neck and flip the fish to the side and cut it open where we proceed to rip out the insides of the fish. This is done in 3-10 seconds
@farisribbit1706
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
This should have been run double blind
@prafrentebrasil3299
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
I never killed a fish in my life and problably never will. I live 2000 kms from the coast at a very dry region with almost no rivers? Why did I watch this?
@ElizabethHiebler
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
That fish got violated 3:34
@BREDWOOO
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
For carp you use a different method (at least in Australia where you don't really eat them) you use what is commonly referred to as "the night night stick" bonking them on the head
@alejandrorodriguez2238
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Japan method is better
@Kyp031
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Exsanguination is my next metal song title
@IceLemonTE
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
how does the fish get on the cutting board without getting stressed and suffocating i don’t get this video 😂 ts a scam
@bendeguzcsoka3890
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
I currently work at a small fish farm and I'm having trouble with harvesting the fish. I harvest between 5 and 40 fish/day and I'd like to try this method, but I usually have to deal with 3 fish flopping around in front of me at once. Do any of you have a good solution other than knowing then unconscious?
@1kamikaze2
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Goodness ouch ouch ouch
@car-c1j
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
so you basically super lobotomise a fish
@wootenbasset8631
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Eeew… she’s eating old raw fish. Yuck. “Complexity”? I have to pay a premium to see if I agree. Something smells fishy here.
@jackmiller1209
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Humans are death machines..
@Metoobie
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
1:41 would you like some fish with your mayonnaise and rice?
@gregorybrown3566
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
But did you ask the fish which hurts more
@ejazahmad8413
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Halal way to slaughter a fish !!!
@zainu3034
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
❤
@Barisdagame
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Thats the worst fish to do it with steipers taste amazing regardless 😂
@Barisdagame
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Thats wild
@jaypatd69
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
young peggy hill
@stathiskarat
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Ιts really hard use this method if you are fisherman and use nets
@Dan_Is_Aid
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
I would never eat the fish outta the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. That water is disgusting. I don't care how the fish is dispatched and bled out 🫠
@aliceyoung2507
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
🙏🙏🙏
@retr0nrr
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
5:48 "there's a hint of complexity" ???
@jfsoutdooradventures2384
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
This must be a liberal page, nobody had issues until all you millennial types with their mushy feelings. But it tastes the same she says.
@christinasophieschultz5081
November 16, 2025 at 9:18 am
Clover oil in the water would do it too 😢🤦🏼♀️
Comments are closed.