How fish welfare is addressed in aquaculture certification schemes and where significant gaps remain in current standards.
Fish welfare certification is at an important inflection point. The most widely used certifications are beginning to incorporate welfare criteria alongside their established environmental standards, but the depth and breadth of these welfare requirements is still insufficient given what is known about fish sentience and the scale of suffering in aquaculture. The most significant gap is in humane slaughter: no major certification scheme currently requires effective stunning for all certified fish species. Consumer understanding of what certification labels actually mean for welfare is also limited. Closing the gap between current certification standards and what the science shows is needed requires both industry action and consumer pressure.