Better farming practices in aquaculture: can standards drive change?

Aquaculture is often criticised as an activity harmful for the environment. With the collapse of wild catch fisheries, aquaculture is growing, and so is consumers’ awareness about environmental and social issues. The increasing demand for food produced in a sustainable way resulted in the creation of international standards that ensure the respect of strict requirements for sustainable farming practices. How effective are these standards in Asia? Do they encompass animal welfare? Can they drive change fast enough? We will share lessons from our experience working with farmers and standard owners in South East Asia.

Fish meal and fish oil

The current aquaculture model which dominates Europe and North America, and is rapidly expanding thought the world, is focused on the intensive production of high market value fish such as salmon. In most cases these fish species are carnivorous, requiring feed with a large input of fishmeal and fish oil (FMFO).

Approximately one-quarter of all wild-caught fish (in terms of weight) are used to make fish feed. This comprises of somewhere between 450 billion and 1 trillion individual fish. According to some calculations, it can take up to 350 wild-caught fish to raise a single farmed salmon. Since these wild fish die without any form of humane slaughter, the ethical cost of this type of feed is massive.

Moreover, it has been proven that FMFO in many cases is imported from countries in the Global South, with very little control over the environmental and social impacts. The supply chains are often very opaque and deliberately not transparent. It has been shown that unregulated and illegal fishing is an integral part of this industry. Fishmeal factories are often built and operate with no environmental control and worker abuse is common.

This talk will explore the welfare, environmental and social implications of the use of FMFO by the aquaculture industry. It will also touch on possible solutions and future directions that need to be taken to tackle the issue.

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

Fish farming in Norway is big business. In terms of animal lives, around 800 million salmon are kept by the Norwegian aquaculture industry at any one time.

A large number of salmon in open sea cages result in a high production of sea lice. In order to decrease reliance on ineffective and inhumane lice treatments, the aquaculture industry increasingly depends on cleaner fish to control salmon lice. Cleaner fish are hailed as an environmentally friendly approach to delousing, and are used as part of a parasite control approach at many Norwegian localities. How did a biological solution to salmon lice problems lead to farming of an entirely new type of fish with high mortality and poor welfare?

Advancing Fish Welfare Though False Advertising Lawsuits

Food companies are increasingly deceiving consumers by advertising fish products as "sustainable," "natural," "wild-caught," and even "humane." This presentation will explain how false advertising lawsuits can be used to expose the reality of how fishes are treated and hold companies accountable for misleading consumers.

Host: Becky Jenkins

Panel: Dr. Laila Kassam, Tse Yip Fai & Nimisha Agarwal

Aquatic animal welfare issues overlap and intersect with many other issues and concerns across the globe including climate justice, food security, poverty, workers rights issues, etc. Animal advocacy efforts from the west have all too often fallen short when it comes to cultural competency, sensitivity and inclusivity when working with communities of the global majority. This panel will touch on mistakes made in the animal protection movement and how we can do better with our advocacy efforts for fish while ensuring meaningful involvement with communities of the global majority, in all parts of the world.

The Push for Legislative Reform

Given the widespread use of aquatic animals, and the lack of regulation designed to protect them, there is urgent need for legislative reform. Reform efforts are increasingly underway around the world and focus heavily on the use of aquatic animals for food as well as protecting them in freshwater and marine environments. This presentation will address some of those efforts, as well as the need for work in a broader number of settings, and will also share some of the work of the Aquatic Animal Law Initiative at the Animal Law Clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School.