Aquaculture Welfare

Aquaculture Feed Welfare and Sustainability

The sustainability and composition of aquaculture feed affects both farmed fish welfare and the welfare of the wild fish used as ingredients.

Key Facts

Up to 5 kg of wild fish meal is needed to produce 1 kg of farmed salmon
Forage fish such as anchovy and sand eel are harvested at industrial scale for aquaculture feed
Fish meal substitution with plant proteins can reduce wild fish reliance
Feed quality directly affects farmed fish health, immunity, and gut function
Insects as a feed ingredient offer sustainability benefits and nutritional quality

Welfare Considerations

Aquaculture feed creates a dual welfare issue: the welfare of farmed fish depends on feed quality, and the harvest of forage fish for feed impacts billions of wild fish. Poor-quality feed causes gut disease and reduced immunity in farmed fish. Reducing reliance on wild-caught feed ingredients through sustainable alternatives addresses both welfare concerns simultaneously.

What You Can Do

Choose aquaculture products from farms using sustainable feed ingredients
Support research into insect and algae-based aquaculture feeds
Advocate for feed sustainability standards in aquaculture certification