Florida pompano is an emerging aquaculture species in the southeastern USA. As production scales up, welfare standard development becomes increasingly important.
Florida pompano welfare challenges arise from their active schooling nature and sensitivity to temperature and handling stress. Scale loss during handling procedures causes direct welfare harm and infection risk. The seasonal temperature constraints in Florida culture require careful management during cold snaps, with mortality risk when water temperatures drop below 12 degrees C. Welfare standard development alongside industry growth provides the opportunity to establish good practice from the start rather than retrofitting welfare standards to entrenched production systems.