This week, our aquatics experts attended the Tenth Annual Oxford Animal Ethics Summer School at the University of Oxford, where we highlighted the urgent need for fish welfare legislation.

The summer school event – run by the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics – was titled The Ethics of Captivity and included a number of different sessions covering topics such as intensive farming and animals kept in zoos.

The urgent need for legal protection

Our Global Campaigns Manager for Fish Welfare, Antoine Tifine, took part in a panel discussion called ‘Aquaculture: The Next Moral Frontier.’ He was joined in the debate by Professor Kathy Hessler (Assistant Dean of Animal Law at GW Law School), Giulia Malerbi (Head of Global Policy at Aquatic Life Institute), Amy P. Wilson (Executive Director of Animal Law Reform South Africa) and it was chaired by Maximilian Elder (Managing Director of Food Systems Innovations).

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world, but the sector faces many ethical, welfare and sustainability challenges.

Antoine explained that fish in intensive farms can experience very poor conditions such as dirty water, stressful handling, high stocking densities, and inhumane slaughter. They are also vulnerable to injuries and disease.

Currently, there are no detailed legal protections for the welfare of farmed fish, despite the EU, for example, recognising them as sentient animals. This urgently needs to change to ensure fish get the protection they so desperately need. "Improving awareness of the sentience, intelligence, and welfare needs of aquatic animals is key to achieving legislative and regulatory change”, stressed Antoine.

He also pointed out the many misconceptions that exist about fish and aquaculture:

There’s the myth that fish do not feel pain and so their welfare is not prioritised, when they are actually sentient animals. There’s also the misconception that fish and seafood are the most environmentally friendly forms of protein, which ignores plant-based sources. Finally, there’s the idea that aquaculture is a solution to overfishing, which ignores the fact that many farmed carnivorous species must be fed with fish meal and fish oil – made from overfished wild-caught species – therefore actually directly contributing to overfishing.

Public support for fish welfare

The following day our Research Manager (Aquatic Animals), Dr Santiago Pintos, delivered a talk about public support for protecting the welfare of aquatic animals.

He detailed the results of the multi-national survey we commissioned in collaboration with Eurogroup for Animals last year. It found that 91% of people polled across nine EU countries said fish should be protected to the same or greater extent as other farmed animals. Yet it also revealed a lack of awareness of common aquaculture practices, such as how most farmed fish are not stunned before slaughter.

Aquaculture under spotlight at Oxford event