Freshwater aquaculture produces tilapia, catfish, trout, and carp in large volumes, with welfare challenges that mirror and in some ways exceed those of marine aquaculture.
Freshwater aquaculture welfare is less publicly discussed than salmon farming but involves comparable numbers of individuals. Tilapia and catfish are farmed in densities that cause chronic crowding stress, with recurrent disease outbreaks controlled primarily through prophylactic antibiotic use. Welfare standards for freshwater species lag behind the already inadequate standards for marine aquaculture, and third-party certification is rarer still.