• Question: wheen you dissect the fish are they dead?

    Asked by to Kim on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Kimberley Lowe

      Kimberley Lowe answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hi 12mooery,

      Yes when we dissect the fish they are already dead. We dispatch them humanely by either putting anaesthetic in the water, and this overdoses them, or by knocking them on the head with a heavy stick (called a priest). These two are the most humane ways of killing the fish. When we take samples the fish have to be just freshly killed, because as soon as they die the tissues change and this can make it difficult for the histopathologist to see any diseases when he looks at them under the microscope.

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