Pangasius catfish farming in Vietnam produces one of the world most widely traded aquaculture products, with welfare challenges related to extreme stocking densities and limited oversight in a massive export industry.
Pangasius welfare in intensive production involves chronic stress from high stocking density, variable water quality, and limited ability to express natural ranging and shoaling behaviors at appropriate scales. While pangasius are more tolerant of poor water quality than salmonids, tolerance does not mean immunity to welfare compromise — fish in oxygen-depleted, ammonia-enriched water experience physiological stress that impairs immune function and wellbeing. The massive scale of pangasius production — hundreds of millions of individual fish — means that even modest improvements in welfare standards have enormous aggregate impact. ASC certification has driven meaningful improvements in certified operations, but significant portions of the industry operate outside certification standards with limited welfare oversight.