European sea bass welfare in aquaculture depends on social density management, water quality optimization, and humane slaughter practices for this highly active predatory fish.
Sea bass are among the more welfare-demanding fish in Mediterranean aquaculture, combining high activity requirements, territorial behavior, and sensitivity to water quality into a complex management challenge. Their predatory nature means confinement at high densities creates persistent competitive stress that manifests in size hierarchies and chronic cortisol elevation in subordinate individuals. Slaughter welfare for sea bass received regulatory attention in the EU Aquaculture Strategy, recognizing that percussive or electrical stunning before killing is necessary to avoid the prolonged consciousness during the slaughter process that ice slurry alone cannot prevent.