Pangasius catfish farming in Vietnam and surrounding Southeast Asia is one of the largest aquaculture sectors globally with significant welfare challenges.
Pangasius welfare represents a large-scale aquaculture welfare challenge that receives insufficient attention. The enormous production volumes — over a million tonnes annually — mean that welfare conditions affect hundreds of millions of fish. The variability in management quality creates a complex market where certified sustainable pangasius may have better environmental performance but still limited welfare provisions. Water quality management that prevents hypoxia and ammonia accumulation is the most impactful welfare improvement available for the majority of pangasius farms. Consumer awareness that pangasius is often the fish in low-cost processed products creates an opportunity for market pressure to drive welfare improvement through better labeling and certification.