Here's something I got from another forum concerning freezing:
A large number of people are under the impression that freezing the fish is humane. It isn't. What happens first is that the fish can't properly take in oxygen. We might liken that to suffocation. As the temperature drops, the gills begin to freeze up (we might liken that to our lungs freezing). So as the fish gasps for air it cannot get, it dies in a cold, dark place. This is definitely not humane. Maybe the aquarist thinks it is okay, but it isn't, based upon when we know about fish. Freezing a fish is one of the most inhumane ways of putting down a fish. I think it became popular because the hobbyists, cowards some tend to be, would just rather pop the fish into the freezer and not have to look at the fish anymore. What they don't see is the suffering, suffocating fish in pain, taking up to 15 minutes to die as its gills freeze over and internal organs freeze and rupture.
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