Fish farming in China

China leads the world in aquaculture, raising on average 60 billion farmed fish each year. Given the country’s lack of legally binding standards for welfare conditions, the suffering of these animals, in confinement, transport, and slaughter, can be intense. But addressing the problem involves unique challenges. The government sets the target volume for aquaculture every five years, so campaigns to reduce fish consumption are unlikely to affect production, at least in the short term. Moreover, the government is promoting development of new technologies in aquaculture, which in improving efficiency may increase the scale and severity of suffering. In light of these and other factors, welfare reform may be the best approach, as it would both improve conditions for fish and drive up the cost of fish farming, enabling competition from companies producing plant-based and cultivated alternatives. Successful advocacy requires careful strategy and a thorough, local understanding of Chinese society, leveraging cultural attitudes regarding fish to drive effective interventions.

Aquaculture in India, Industry status & practices

In 2020, India ranked 2nd in aquaculture, with a projected growth rate of 6% per annum. The industry is supported by Government of India schemes and subsidies, including a allocation of Rs. 825 Crores to the Department of Fisheries in the Government of India budget in 2020.

The majority of farmed fish are subject to overcrowded and restrictive conditions. Aquaculture practices and production—including rearing, ‘harvesting’, handling, transport, and inhumane slaughter—significantly impact the welfare of these animals.

Drawing attention to this potentially mammoth industry and working towards ensuring fish welfare and examining the multitude of adverse impacts this industry has, could lead us to working towards better regulations, practices and a humane society for fish.

Improving fish welfare in the aquaculture industry

Norwegian fish farms and fish health personnel often feel that they are between a rock and a hard place, when they are prioritising production efficiency, economy, environmental regulations vs. animal welfare. This is partly due to that, although the Norwegian Animal Welfare Act gives no opportunity for dispensation from the law, the dedicated aquaculture regulations typically only use vague phrases in their animal welfare requirements. Fish farm personnel, fish health personnel and regulators often agree on measures that they think will improve fish welfare in the industry as a whole, but, lack of certainty, large short-term costs and lack of agreement on who is to pick up the bill often hinders progress. Creating regulations for limiting the costs for companies that take on additional burdens for the common good and clearer welfare requirements can push the industry towards improved animal welfare.

How to ensure good welfare practises in the aquaculture industry

In an era, where animal welfare, sustainability and climate change are buzz words, responsible aquaculture comes in front to ensure the better rearing conditions and quality of life for the animals being farmed.

It is important to note that fish welfare is an important topic for the industry, not just for public perception, marketing, and product acceptance, but also often in terms of production efficiency, quality and quantity.

Therefore, ensuring animal welfare is a human responsibility that includes consideration for all aspects of animal well-being, including proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling, and, when necessary, humane euthanasia.

An overview on how quick the aquaculture industry prioritised fish welfare with all the associated benefits for product quality and food safety, highlighting the importance of certification schemes and innovative remote solutions for fish welfare will be explored at this talk.

How to measure welfare on-farm

With the constant growth and diversification of aquaculture world-wide, the attention for welfare of fish is accruing. At present more than 360 finfish species are reared for food production in aquaculture. It is known that there is huge variety regarding phylogeny, behaviours and habitats among finfish species. Obviously, the welfare needs of fish can differ noticeably. In addition, these welfare needs also depend on their life stages.

For finfish a wide range systems is used for rearing them. These systems include: i) pond based aquaculture, ii) flow through systems, iii) semi-closed containment systems, iv) recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), v) net cages and vi) farming offshore using sea cages in exposed conditions.

To assess welfare of fish, welfare indicators are needed. These indicators describe how well the welfare needs are met. They are a measure of the quality of life of the fish. Two types of welfare indicators exists, i.e. input-based indicators and animal-based indicators. Input-based indicators are measures of the way the fish are kept and managed during rearing and operations such as transport. An animal-based indicator is a measure of a response of animal or an effect on the animal.

For both types of indicators standards are needed to determine the welfare status of a fish. Welfare indicators and corresponding standards are incorporated in schemes for welfare assessment. It is obvious that the use of a welfare assessment scheme only is not focused on preventive measures, nor control of the entire process. To achieve this, an approach based on 1) a thorough analysis of conditions used during production, considering the specific requirements of a fish species and its life stages; and 2) a review of the entire process, is needed.

Environmental Enrichment And Fish Welfare In Aquaculture

During a cycle of aquaculture production there are several situations that can be very stressful for fish. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a potential tool to guarantee or improve the welfare of captive fish, which might help captive individuals to better cope with stressful events. Physical, sensorial, occupational, social or dietary enrichments influence several aspects of the biology and behaviour of fish in captivity, and these effects often vary in direction and magnitude, and each species and stage of life needs special consideration with respect to its natural history and preferences. However, it is of special concern that the application of EE can be also associated with some problems at farms, compromising the health and well-being of fish. It is, therefore, necessary to take into account all these aspects before designing and using any EE, adapting EE solutions to the biology of the species and the farming systems.

Managing fish welfare in intensive aquaculture: current practices and future possibilities

The welfare of farmed fish is mainly measured by how well they function, and while such an approach does not capture all aspects of fish welfare, it can be useful when used correctly and thus be used to provide indications of the effect of intensification upon fish welfare. Intensification has been achieved through a variety of means, depending on the species under culture. These will be discussed in terms of their implications, both positive and negative, for fish welfare, along with the measures being taken by the aquaculture industry to mitigate negative effects. The application of positive welfare for fish has recently become an area of increasing interest; potential means by which this might be managed within large scale industrial systems will also be discussed.

Host: Rocky Schwartz

Panel: Mark Borthwick, Jade Spence, William Bench & Dr. Sunil Kadri

Economics is a huge barrier to improved fish welfare in all parts of the world and at all levels of the supply chain. This panel will discuss issues of cost to producers to improve welfare, costs to consumers of higher welfare aquatic animal products, the impact of COVID 19 on this economy, and more.