Aquaculture and Food Security: Balancing Production and Welfare

Aquaculture is essential for global food security as wild fish stocks decline, creating obligations to develop production systems that meet both human needs and fish welfare requirements.

Key Facts

Aquaculture now provides more than 50% of global seafood consumption, having overtaken wild capture fisheries
Fish represent the primary animal protein source for over 3 billion people globally
Aquaculture has the potential to provide protein with lower environmental footprint than terrestrial livestock
The challenge is scaling aquaculture while simultaneously improving welfare standards across production systems
Certification schemes providing welfare assurance currently cover only a small fraction of global production
Innovation in feed, genetics and system design can improve both production efficiency and welfare outcomes

Welfare Considerations

Aquaculture welfare cannot be evaluated in isolation from its food security role — for billions of people, farmed fish is an irreplaceable protein source. This creates an obligation to improve welfare within production systems rather than simply advocating against aquaculture. The goal is production systems that meet fish welfare needs at commercially viable scales. This is achievable — Norwegian salmon farming demonstrates that high welfare standards and commercial viability are compatible. Extending this model globally through technology transfer, regulatory standards and consumer market signals is the most realistic pathway to improving welfare for the billions of fish farmed annually.

What You Can Do

Choose certified seafood from operations with documented welfare standards
Support aquaculture technology development that simultaneously improves welfare and sustainability
Advocate for international standards that raise welfare floors across global aquaculture production
Support organisations working on welfare improvement in major producing countries including Vietnam and China
Recognise aquaculture's food security role while maintaining expectations for welfare improvement