Sustainable seafood certification increasingly recognises welfare considerations alongside environmental sustainability, with growing integration of welfare criteria in leading schemes.
Sustainable seafood and animal welfare are increasingly recognised as complementary rather than separate concerns. Overfishing that depletes fish populations also depletes the welfare of those populations through hunger and disease as populations are stressed. Bycatch from unsustainable fishing practices causes welfare harm to non-target species at enormous scale. Sustainable fishing methods including more selective gear, lower bycatch, and ecosystem-based management generally also have lower welfare impacts. Integrating welfare criteria into sustainability certification creates a more comprehensive assessment that serves both environmental and welfare goals simultaneously.