Grouper are premium farmed fish across Southeast Asia, but their territorial nature and high value creates welfare challenges in intensive marine cage culture.
Grouper welfare in cage culture is compromised by their territorial behaviour that makes high-density confinement inherently stressful. Live transport in high-value fish trade imposes welfare costs during extended transport to destination markets. Stress during handling for health management causes prolonged physiological disruption. Improving cage design to provide spatial complexity, reducing handling frequency through in-situ health monitoring, and adopting humane slaughter before transport would all improve welfare substantially in this high-value sector.