Meagre is an emerging Mediterranean aquaculture species offering welfare advantages over intensively farmed sea bass and sea bream. Understanding its requirements guides responsible production.
Meagre welfare characteristics make it a relatively good candidate for aquaculture compared to more sensitive Mediterranean species. Their tolerance of handling and lower aggression levels reduce injury risk. Broader temperature and salinity tolerance provides resilience to environmental variation in cage culture. However, welfare standards for meagre are less developed than for sea bass and sea bream. Establishing welfare indicators specific to this species from the outset of industry expansion prevents welfare blind spots developing.