European seabream and seabass are among the most intensively farmed fish species in the Mediterranean, with welfare challenges including stocking density, disease management and slaughter practices.
Mediterranean seabass and seabream welfare in intensive aquaculture is a significant and underaddressed issue. These fish are capable of stress and pain responses, yet are routinely kept at stocking densities that cause chronic physiological stress, slaughtered by ice slurry that causes prolonged cold shock and asphyxiation, and managed under disease conditions requiring repeated handling and chemical treatments. The welfare gap between current standard practice and what is achievable with better management is substantial. Growing consumer demand for certified products is creating market incentives for welfare improvement, though the pace of change remains slow relative to the scale of production.