How to ensure good welfare practises in the aquaculture industry

Dr. Filipa Castanheira has a BSc in Marine Biology and Biotechnology, MSc in Aquaculture and Fisheries specialised in Aquaculture, PhD in Biological Sciences specialised in Marine Biology. Lives in Vienna, Austria and is interested in farmed fish welfare particularly studying how to ensure good welfare practises in the aquaculture industry, by setting up Codes of Practice for responsible aquaculture that take fish welfare into account and improves the industry sustainability.

How to measure welfare on-farm

Dr. Hans van de Vis is a senior researcher at the Department of Animal Health and Welfare, Wageningen Livestock Research, the Netherlands. He received his M.Sc in Biochemistry from Utrecht University, the Netherlands and his PhD in Agricultural Sciences at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. His fields of specialisation include stress and welfare of cultured and captured fish species. Dr. Van de Vis has participated in several R&D projects and networks and he has published numerous scientific papers on fish welfare. He was a member of the EFSA working group for the assessment of welfare during farming of European eel and welfare at slaughter of European eel, sea bass and gilthead sea bream. He is a member of Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Environmental Enrichment And Fish Welfare In Aquaculture

Dr. Pablo Arechavala-Lopez is a marine biologist and ichthyologist with a multidisciplinary scientific production and strong background on fish ecology and ethology. He has studied the behaviour of fish escaped from farms and their possible effects on the marine environment with a view to improving the sustainable aquaculture management. Today, as part of the Fish Ethology and Welfare Group at CCMAR and FishEthoGroup Association, he is focused on developing diverse strategies to ensure a more responsible aquaculture activity, such as investigating the effects of environmental enrichment on fish welfare, developing tools for monitoring farmed fish behaviour, fish welfare training and farmers consulting on fish welfare aspects.

Slaughter of fish, decapods and cephlapods in practice

Jade Spence is Technical Officer at the Humane Slaughter Association (HSA). HSA is a charity with over 100 years of history and is recognised internationally for promoting scientific, technical and educational advances towards improving the welfare of food animals, worldwide, during transport, at markets, slaughter and killing (e.g. for disease control or welfare reasons).

Jade advises industry, smallholders and students on humane principles and techniques, and of the latest technology and good practices for animal welfare. Jade writes practical HSA guidance on how to maintain a high level of welfare for mammals, poultry and fish, and further communicates the benefits of high-welfare standards by expanding HSA’s range of translated publications (including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Russian). In 2016 Jade devised a programme, for which HSA received its largest-ever donation, to investigate and improve the welfare of less-understood species: fish, crustaceans and cephalopods.

Recent progress in the welfare of crabs, lobsters, and other decapods, in the food industry

Ann is a member of Crustacean Compassion’s Advisory Group. Crustacean Compassion is an animal welfare organisation dedicated to the humane treatment of decapod crustaceans (crabs, lobsters, prawns and crayfish) in the food industry. Their aim is to gain decapod crustaceans legal protection based on scientific evidence of their sentience. Last year, Crustacean Compassion was awarded the RSPCA Campaigner Award.

Ann is currently working at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home as an Intake Coordinator after finishing her Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law MSc at Glasgow University. During this course, she conducted research investigating intramammary infections in dairy cows. While in Scotland, she started the Compassion in World Farming local volunteer group for Glasgow. In the past, she has interned at PETA and spoken at the International Animal Rights Conference in Luxembourg.

Wild fish slaughter - capture, loading, storage and slaughter

Dr. Hans van de Vis is a senior researcher at the Department of Animal Health and Welfare, Wageningen Livestock Research, the Netherlands. He received his M.Sc in Biochemistry from Utrecht University, the Netherlands and his PhD in Agricultural Sciences at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. His fields of specialisation include stress and welfare of cultured and captured fish species. Dr. Van de Vis has participated in several R&D projects and networks and he has published numerous scientific papers on fish welfare. He was a member of the EFSA working group for the assessment of welfare during farming of European eel and welfare at slaughter of European eel, sea bass and gilthead sea bream. He is a member of Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Banning the sale of live fish - outreach successes and struggles

Meda is Live Fish campaign coordinator at Tušti Narvai (Anima International) based in Lithuania. She started working at the organisation just last winter, but has already achieved great victories for fishes. She believes that partnership and positive approach with businesses might be much more beneficial than campaigning. She wants that her values would be met not only when she thinks about the goals of the campaign, but also when she tries to achieve them.

Octopus Farming

Elena Lara graduated in Biology at the University of Girona (Spain), obtained a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain), she did her Postdoc in Istituto di Scienze Marine (ISMAR-CNR) with a Marie Curie fellowship in Venice (Italy) and a Master’s degree in Animal Law and Society from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain). She has worked in several national and international projects on marine ecology, marine biodiversity and oceanography and participated in several oceanographic campaigns in the Mediterranean, Arctic and Pacific Ocean. She made several visits to research institutes in the United States and published several articles in high impact international journals (Science Advances, Nature, PLoS ONE, Global Change Biology, etc.) as well as specialized book chapters. She also collaborated with the research group ICALP (International Centre for Animal Law and Policy) and other animal defense organizations. She currently works for the international animal welfare environmentalist NGO, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) in the UK as a researcher in the fish welfare team.

Aquatic animal numbers and their implications

Saulius is a Research Analyst at Rethink Priorities. Previously, he was a research intern at Animal Charity Evaluators, organised Effective Altruism events in the UK and Lithuania, and worked as a programmer.

Better farming practices in aquaculture: can standards drive change?

Previously working at the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea where she completed her PhD in agronomy, Juliette contributed to several scientific surveys and projects in close cooperation with fishermen. She was involved in three European working groups to design new stock assessment models and review the general methodology to be followed by the European Union in case of data-limited fish stock. She is now working at VerifiK8 as a data scientist and project manager, focusing mainly on improving social and environmental farming practices in shrimp aquaculture in South East Asia.

Fish meal and fish oil

Dr Krzysztof Wojtas is Head of Fish Policy at Compassion in World Farming and leads the European wide ‘Rethink Fish’ team who work to improve the welfare of fish across the continent. He previously worked as an Assistant Professor at the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. He has conducted various research and published scientific papers on animal welfare with a special focus on fish cognition and welfare. Previously he was working as a consultant for Eurogroup for Animals; a Brussels based organisation lobbying in the European Commission and Parliament for Animal Welfare.

Advancing Fish Welfare Though False Advertising Lawsuits

Jay Shooster is an associate and the Senior Animal Welfare Legal Fellow at Richman Law Group. Jay has represented nonprofits and consumers in numerous cases against large food companies, including Tyson Foods, Kraft Heinz, and Unilever.

Panel: Working with communities of the global majority for intersectional change

Laila Kassam is a development economist and has worked in the international development sector since 2003. She has worked with NGOs, foundations, government ministries and international research and development institutions (including the CGIAR and FAO) focusing on rural development in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Laila is a co-founder of AnimalThink Tank, UK and co-editor of the new book Rethinking Food and Agriculture: New Ways Forward. She currently works on issues related to food system transformation, and animal, climate and social justice.

Laila has a BSc in Economics and Politics (University of Bristol), an MSc in Development Management (London School of Economics) and a PhD in Development Economics (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London). Her previous positions include: Rural Development Programme Associate for the Aga Khan Foundation (Geneva); Research Officer for the DFID funded Coastal Rural Support Programme (Kenya); and Overseas Development Institute Fellow at the Ministry of Agriculture (Guyana).

Panel: Working with communities of the global majority for intersectional change

Nimisha (she/they) is an animal rights activist in Delhi, India. They report on animal agriculture and its impact on biodiversity, humans and nonhuman animals. They also write extensively on Gender and Sexuality in India. They are pursuing a Master's degree in Gender Studies. Apart from content writing, they also run their own trekking venture, which is based on a collaborative partnership model with local dwellers, and introduces people to sustainable, plant-based living.

The salmon, the louse and the cleaner fish. A fairy tale about the overlooked and ill-fated soldier on the front lines in aquaculture

Susanna is a zoologist (MSc) with a passion for fish welfare, who has worked as a scientific adviser at the Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance (Dyrevernalliansen) since 2012. Through research and corporate advocacy, she helps the Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry move towards better fish welfare. Her main focus is on one of the most numerous and overlooked groups of animals: juvenile salmon in intensive production.

State of affairs of aquaculture in India

Koushik Raghavan works with Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) as a Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. He has been involved in animal protection work in India for the past 6 years in various capacities – starting as an on-the-field activist and currently as a researcher. He has a Master of Science degree in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Arlington, USA and a Bachelor of Technology degree in the Chemical Engineering from Anna University, India. He has been passionate about animals from a very young age. He likes to spend his time learning and practicing fitness and martial arts, and reading books about subjects ranging from biological science to moral philosophy.

Advocate work in France

Amandine is the president and co-founder of the French organization Paris Animaux Zoopolis (PAZ). Founded in 2017, PAZ defends the principles of the book ‘Zoopolis : a political theory of animal rights’ written by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka. PAZ fights banning cruel practices towards a political and newsworthy strategy. After 4 years of our campaigns, the City of Paris banned wild animals in circuses. PAZ creates a public debate about a peaceful cohabitation with animals such as rats. Working hard to create a public debate about the interest of fishes. For the first time in France, a French representative assembly (Paris Council) debated about fish welfare, thanks to the PAZ campaign to ban recreational fishing in Paris. Amandine got an interview with the ministry of ecology about recreational fishing, especially to ban live bait fishing in France. Amandine is also Director of the Aquatic Life Institute France.

Stronger Together: Aquatic Life Institute & The Aquatic Animal Alliance

William Bench is an “earning-to-give” Portfolio Manager at Latour Trading LLC and the founder of the Aquatic Life Institute.

After realising the scale and relative neglectedness of fish welfare and meeting with Professor Becca Franks from NYU, William created the Aquatic Life Institute to help support the growth of the fish welfare movement. Through ALI, he also created the Aquatic Animal Alliance (modelled after the Open Wing Alliance). ALI and the Alliance have already started engaging certifiers on their upcoming fish welfare standards, both to improve farmed fish living conditions and reduce the number of wild fish killed for fish meal/fish oil. Additionally, ALI finances fundamental and applied fish welfare research; works on introducing legislation; and educates the public around fish sentience. William received his BS and MS in Mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique and a MS in Financial Engineering from Columbia University.

Fish welfare unchained?

Stefan-Andreas Johnigk is a biologist with a long-time experience in farm animal welfare advocacy. He did research at the Faculty of Agriculture, Kiel University CAU, worked in international technology transfer and managed a leading German farm animal welfare NGO. Today he is consulting industry about animal welfare and sustainability, he is assisting farmers in change management and he is developing projects for NGOs. In 2018, Stefan has set up the “Aquaculture Welfare Standards Initiative” on behalf of the Albert-Schweitzer-Foundation.

From Land to Water: Taking Fish Welfare Seriously

Lauri Torgerson-White is currently the research director at Farm Sanctuary, where she oversees a research program aimed at working with the sanctuary residents to learn more about farm animal cognition, emotion, welfare, and human-animal interactions. Prior to this position, Lauri was the first animal welfare specialist at Mercy For Animals, where she led a team of researchers investigating how to increase impact and effectiveness in the animal rights movement. She also spent several years as an animal welfare researcher at the Detroit Zoo, studying everything from behavior in Japanese giant salamanders to lion personality.

From Land to Water: Taking Fish Welfare Seriously

Walter has a degree in veterinary science, a master’s in moral philosophy, and a PhD. on animal behaviour, welfare, and neuroscience. He is part of the research department at Mercy for Animals, where he investigates the welfare of farmed terrestrial and aquatic animals.

Karthik has a background in animal welfare and ethical livelihoods. He holds a masters degree in Diplomacy, Law & Business (MA DLB) from the Jindal School of International Affairs. He is a PhD scholar at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research in India, and previously managed the university’s Animal Law Centre. While there, he took up research that shed light on the unethical practices associated with industrialized egg production in India. He has also worked as a research and livelihoods consultant for sixteen Members of Parliament from the Telugu Despam Party. Karthik is deeply committed to ending animal and human suffering and believes in the efficacy of bottom up approaches to change.

Work to date in Asia

Haven is the co-founder and Director of Operations at Fish Welfare Initiative, one of the first organizations focused primarily on improving the welfare of farmed fish. He has spent part of the past six months visiting fish farms and meeting with animal advocates in Vietnam, Thailand, and India. Previously, Haven took part in the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program and interned at Mercy for Animals.