Aquaculture Feed Sustainability and Animal Welfare

The feeds used in aquaculture have dual welfare implications: the welfare of prey fish and insects used as ingredients, and the welfare of farmed fish whose nutrition depends on feed quality.

Key Facts

Traditional salmon feed relied heavily on wild-caught fish meal and fish oil, contributing to overfishing of forage fish species
Forage fish including anchovies, herring, and sardines are sentient animals whose welfare during industrial harvesting is largely unaddressed
Alternative protein sources for aquaculture feed include insect meal, single-cell proteins, algae, and plant proteins
Feed quality significantly affects farmed fish health, immune function, and welfare throughout the production cycle
Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are essential for fish welfare and previously derived almost entirely from wild-caught fish oil
Algal oil can provide EPA and DHA without wild-caught fish use, with commercial-scale production now viable for some species

Welfare Considerations

Aquaculture feed sits at the intersection of multiple welfare concerns. The reliance on wild-caught forage fish for feed ingredients has historically created a situation where farming one fish requires catching multiple wild fish, with welfare costs for those harvested wild populations. The shift to alternative proteins including insect meal raises questions about insect welfare at industrial scale. Plant-based protein sources can compromise fish nutritional welfare if essential amino acid and fatty acid requirements are not met. The development of algal DHA and EPA sources potentially resolves the omega-3 supply chain welfare problem, providing essential fatty acids without wild-caught fish use. Feed sustainability and animal welfare are deeply connected in aquaculture, and advances in alternative feed ingredients serve both simultaneously when nutritional adequacy is maintained.

What You Can Do

Support certified aquaculture operations that disclose their feed ingredients and sustainability certification
Engage with seafood certification bodies to ensure feed ingredient welfare is included in sustainability assessments
Donate to research organisations developing alternative protein and lipid sources for aquaculture feed
Advocate for feed ingredient traceability requirements in aquaculture certification schemes
Choose aquaculture products from operations using reduced wild-fish feed or alternative ingredient sources where available