Common carp is the world's most produced farmed fish species by volume, yet welfare research and standards for carp aquaculture lag far behind other farmed fish species.
Farmed carp welfare faces challenges of scale and tradition. As a staple food fish in Asia and parts of Europe, production is enormous but welfare research is limited. Crowding in pond systems causes chronic stress and disease. Traditional practices in European Christmas carp markets involve keeping live carp in tanks in supermarkets for consumer selection, followed by live transport and slaughter at home or in store — practices increasingly challenged by welfare advocates. Czech and Slovak animal welfare groups have advocated for pre-slaughter stunning requirements. In China and other major producing countries, welfare standards are effectively absent. The sheer volume of carp produced makes welfare improvements in this species potentially the highest-impact intervention in aquaculture welfare.