Fish used in aquaculture research face welfare gaps compared to mammalian research animals — regulatory reform is extending animal welfare protections to research fish.
Fish welfare in laboratory settings illustrates the gap between scientific understanding of fish sentience and regulatory protection of fish interests. In jurisdictions where fish are formally included in animal welfare legislation, research institutions must justify procedures, minimize pain and distress, and implement the 3Rs framework — bringing fish closer to mammalian research welfare standards. In jurisdictions that exclude fish, equivalent oversight is absent despite identical neurobiological capacities for pain. Improving laboratory fish welfare requires both regulatory reform and cultural change within research institutions: adopting fish-specific anesthesia and analgesia protocols, implementing structured post-procedure monitoring, and applying the same ethical review standards to fish as to mammals.