Fish welfare: an NGO’s point of view

Abstract

Fish are the most exploited, forgotten and misunderstood animals on the planet. They also are extraordinary creatures: complex, intelligent, sensitive, curious, and some of them have amazing abilities. For instance; some use tools, have a good memory, or collaborate to hunt. And most importantly, they are sentient, and they feel pain. Aquaculture has become the main supplier of fish worldwide, accounting for just over half of the fish eaten by humans due to static global wild-capture stocks, which have been overfished for decades. Also, global consumption of fish has doubled since the early 1970s and will continue to grow with population growth in the developing world. However, the aquaculture industry has developed without proper consideration of the needs of the fish species farmed, and the welfare consequences for those animals. Moreover, the rapid growth of aquaculture has raises major sustainability concerns due to its continued reliance on wild-caught fish. Annually, 0.5-1.0 trillion fish are caught to be reduced to ingredients to feed farmed animals, mainly fish. When considering the negative environmental consequences of using wild-caught fish as feed, we must not overlook the huge animal welfare impact that represents for the huge number of animals involved. Compassion in World Farming is working to raise awareness about fish sentience and the welfare problems that aquaculture industry represents for fish welfare. The way that fish are treated is important and we must do it better.