Grouper aquaculture in Asia involves specific welfare challenges from highly carnivorous dietary needs, aggression, and disease susceptibility in intensive systems.
Grouper farming presents multiple welfare challenges. Intensive culture requires high protein diets often sourced from wild-caught baitfish, raising sustainability concerns alongside welfare ones. Intense intraspecific aggression causes fin damage, eye injuries, and fatalities. VNN causes neurological symptoms and mass mortality among juvenile fish. Live transport to markets, which is preferred by consumers, causes prolonged transit stress and high mortality. Welfare standards for grouper must address aggression management, disease prevention, and humane harvest.