Live transport of gilthead seabream between hatcheries, nurseries and grow-out sites imposes significant welfare costs. Understanding recovery requirements enables better post-transport management.
Seabream transport represents a concentration of welfare insults within a compressed timeframe. Loading involves crowding and netting stress. Transport imposes confinement, vibration, water quality fluctuation and social disruption. Unloading again involves handling and transfer to unfamiliar environments. The physiological stress response activated during transport remains elevated long after the physical insults have ended, suppressing immune function and making fish vulnerable to opportunistic disease. Recovery protocols that provide low stocking density, optimal water quality, and absence of additional stressors after transport are essential welfare interventions that reduce mortality and long-term welfare costs.