Tilapia aquaculture in East African lake systems including Lake Victoria raises welfare questions about cage density, water quality, and disease management in small-scale operations.
Tilapia welfare in East African small-scale cage aquaculture is largely unmonitored and unregulated. Oxygen depletion events during algal blooms or in heavily stocked cages cause acute hypoxic distress before mass mortality. Overcrowding in cages attempting to maximise yield per unit of water causes chronic social stress and disease susceptibility. The absence of veterinary support means diseases like streptococcosis progress to cause significant suffering before adequate treatment. Developing accessible welfare guidelines for small-scale African tilapia farmers that are practical without specialist resources represents an important welfare improvement opportunity with significant scale of impact given production volumes.