Zander are highly effective freshwater predators that have been introduced across Britain and parts of western Europe. Their welfare as an introduced species and as angling targets raises interesting ethical questions.
Zander welfare as an angling species involves the standard catch-and-release concerns of hooking injury and handling stress. As an introduced predator, their population management in some areas involves lethal control — raising questions about the welfare of individual zander versus the welfare of native prey species they affect. The ethics of releasing introduced species for angling, knowing they will alter native fish community welfare, represents an ongoing tension in freshwater conservation management.