Common and grass carp together represent the highest production volume of any farmed fish species globally, yet welfare standards for their production are largely absent in most producing countries.
The enormous scale of carp aquaculture — the most farmed fish by weight globally — means that welfare improvements would benefit more individual fish than changes in almost any other sector. Current practices including extreme stocking densities and inhumane harvesting methods cause significant suffering. The near-complete absence of welfare standards for carp production represents a major gap in global aquaculture welfare frameworks.