Improving welfare conditions for European sea bass in Mediterranean aquaculture.
Sea bass aquaculture welfare development reflects the species' particular physiological stress sensitivity, which makes welfare monitoring both more important and more challenging than for more stress-tolerant species. The rapid cortisol response to handling and crowding means that routine management procedures impose measurable welfare costs that optimized protocols can substantially reduce. The social hierarchy complexity of sea bass means that stocking density welfare assessment cannot rely on average fish experience, as subordinate individuals may experience significantly worse welfare than dominants in the same production unit. Welfare-positive sea bass production requires species-specific management approaches rather than adapting salmon protocols.