Farmed fish are fed diets that often include wild-caught fish meal and oil, creating a welfare chain that extends from the farm to open ocean fisheries and raises important questions about the suffering embedded in aquaculture supply chains.
The welfare footprint of aquaculture extends far beyond the farm to the billions of small fish caught to feed farmed species. These wild fish suffer during capture, crowding, and processing — making the welfare calculation of eating farmed fish more complex than simple comparisons between wild and farmed suggest. The transition to plant-based and insect-based feeds represents a genuine opportunity to reduce the embedded welfare cost of aquaculture, though it requires consumer awareness and industry investment. Choosing lower-trophic-level farmed species such as tilapia, carp, and mussels dramatically reduces the welfare cost per unit of protein produced.