Aquaculture produces over half the world's seafood, and welfare innovations are improving conditions for billions of fish through better husbandry, monitoring, and slaughter practices.
Fish welfare is a rapidly growing area of research and practice. Evidence shows fish experience pain, stress, and fear through biological mechanisms analogous to other vertebrates. The scale of aquaculture means that even modest improvements in welfare practices affect enormous numbers of sentient animals. Key welfare challenges include crowding, disease, handling stress, and the absence of rapid, humane slaughter in many operations. Innovation in monitoring technology, genetics, and husbandry practice is making meaningful improvements achievable.