Common carp pond culture is the dominant aquaculture system in Central and Eastern Europe, with welfare considerations centred on winter oxygen depletion and live transport.
Common carp welfare in pond systems varies seasonally and between management intensities. Winter oxygen depletion beneath ice can cause mass mortality representing severe welfare failures. Harvesting by seining concentrates fish in increasingly tight nets causing crowding stress, physical injury, and oxygen depletion. Live Christmas market transport involves prolonged holding in suboptimal conditions. Mechanical harvesting improvements, oxygen management, and stunning before slaughter represent key welfare interventions.