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SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Coefficient Giving, a philanthropic funder and advisor, announced a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking technologies and prototypes that significantly reduce the suffering of fish during capture and slaughter. Coefficient's Farm Animal Welfare fund expects to allocate approximately $7 million total to the most promising projects, with additional funding available for exceptional proposals ([link removed]) ([link removed]).
Over 100 billion farmed fish are slaughtered each year, and Coefficient Giving estimates that approximately 0.5% of them — primarily salmon — are reliably stunned before slaughter. For the more than one trillion wild-caught fish killed annually, conditions are even worse.
"Fish experience significant suffering during slaughter, and current solutions only reach a fraction of them," said Lewis Bollard, Managing Director of Coefficient's Farm Animal Welfare Fund. "But we believe this is a solvable engineering challenge, and we're eager to fund talented teams who can make humane stunning practical at scale."
There are substantial engineering challenges to progressing on these problems. Fish species vary dramatically in skull structure, size, and anatomy, making one-size-fits-all stunning solutions difficult. Current electrical stunning methods also face hidden failure modes: recent studies show stunning duration may be shorter than previously thought for several commercially important species.
Likewise, there are meaningful operational constraints. Wild-caught fish are processed on vessels with limited power and space, while farmed fish are killed in marine cages or freshwater systems under varying environmental conditions.
This RFP is particularly interested in proposals for practical solutions to the challenges outlined above. Engineers across disciplines — electrical, mechanical, maritime, and process — as well as interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to apply.
Applications remain open until July 1, 2026. Interested applicants should submit a 2,500-3,000 word Letter of Intent covering their approach to the problem, research plans, organizational structure, timeline, and budget. Up to 125 applicants meeting Coefficient's evaluation threshold and any required due diligence will receive a $4,000 honorarium. From this group, Coefficient will invite 5-30 candidates to submit full proposals by September 30, 2026, with funding decisions expected before year-end.
Coefficient Giving welcomes applications from academic and industry researchers, engineers, and technologists from any sector. For more information, see the application instructions, evaluation criteria, and additional technical resources ([link removed]) ([link removed]) ([link removed]).
** About Coefficient Giving
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Coefficient Giving is a philanthropic funder and advisor that works with donors who share its commitment to cost-effective, high-impact giving. Since 2014, it has directed more than $4 billion in grants across more than a dozen cause areas and has conducted in-depth research to identify the areas where philanthropic capital can have the greatest impact ([link removed]) ([link removed]).
Its founding and most significant partnership is with Good Ventures. Coefficient Giving also partners with other philanthropists to support their giving, providing research on cause areas and specific giving opportunities, strategic guidance on how to maximize impact, and operational support ([link removed]) ([link removed]).
For more information, visit coefficientgiving.org.
Want to learn more about Coefficient? You can explore our full portfolio of funds, apply for a grant, or work with us as a funding partner ([link removed]) ([link removed]) ([link removed]).
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