Tilapia is the third most farmed fish globally, with welfare challenges including poor water quality, overcrowding, and handling stress.
Tilapia tolerance for poor conditions has led to welfare being deprioritized in intensive production. Ammonia toxicity, low dissolved oxygen, and thermal extremes cause sublethal welfare costs even in tolerant species. Hormone-treated monocultures raise additional welfare concerns. The scale of tilapia production means that small per-animal welfare improvements aggregate to enormous total benefit.