Public aquariums vary widely in their welfare standards, with the best facilities providing excellent care and conservation education while the worst cause significant animal suffering.
Public aquariums occupy a wide welfare spectrum. Accredited facilities that focus on native or non-releasable species, sea turtle rehabilitation, coral conservation, and invertebrate education can provide genuine welfare and conservation value. Facilities that hold cetaceans, large sharks, or other wide-ranging species in inadequate environments cause welfare harm similar to that caused by marine parks. The aquarium fish trade that supplies both public and private aquariums involves poor welfare at capture and transport. Distinguishing between high and low welfare aquarium facilities requires understanding which species are being held, in what conditions, and for what conservation purpose.