Tilapia cage culture is expanding rapidly across sub-Saharan Africa as a food security intervention, but welfare standards are largely absent and fish health challenges are significant.
Tilapia welfare in African cage systems is compromised by high stocking densities, inadequate feed management, and limited veterinary support. Overcrowding causes chronic social stress, fin erosion, and oxygen depletion in cage microenvironments. Disease outbreaks including Streptococcus infections cause mass mortality with prolonged suffering. The absence of welfare standards and veterinary infrastructure means that sick fish may not be treated, and humane slaughter is rarely practised. Building welfare awareness and simple, affordable monitoring tools into African aquaculture development programmes would yield significant improvements.