Industrial Animal Agriculture &
Farmed Animals’ Welfare
Fish
Fish sentience
Most fish have highly developed senses with excellent taste, smell, and colour vision. Recent research has provided compelling evidence that fish are sentient animals, capable of not only feeling pain, but also of experiencing a range of emotions. Scientific evidence has revealed that fish are far more intelligent than people assume. They have long-term memories, complex social structures, problem solving abilities, and some have been seen using tools. It appears that some fish like to play games and some seem to enjoy being petted by humans. Fish pass down cultural knowledge to the next generation.
The capacity of fish to suffer is starting to be officially acknowledged in certain countries. For example, in a 2014 report, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC), an advisory body to the British government, stated, “Fish are able to detect and respond to noxious stimuli, and FAWC supports the increasing scientific consensus that they experience pain.”
Do Fish feel pain? Research says YES. Learn more about that here and here. Watch this video by David Neale of Animals Asia about Fish Sentience.
This documentary film by Ryuji Chua examines the evidence that suggests that fish feel, think and suffer, much like dogs, cats and other animals. Viewers are introduced to the smartest fish in the world, and learn about the research that has been done on pain in fish.
Fish as a food source
Fish have been a food source for humans since our ancestors learned to catch them. Fish remains a staple part of human diets all over the world, with an estimated three trillion fish killed for human consumption each year, but overfishing of the oceans has caused drastic declines in wild populations of certain species.
Sentience Institute estimates that around 38.8 to 215.9 billion fish are being farmed globally at any given time. Some of the most commonly farmed fish species globally are carp, catfish, salmon, sea bass, rainbow trout and tilapia.
Stocking density and confinement
On a modern fish farm, fish are typically reared in large numbers in enclosures that may be situated onland, or in lakes, rivers or in the sea. These crowded conditions cause significant welfare concerns, and fish may be prevented from acting on certain natural behaviours. It is likely that fish experience stress when kept crammed into an area with very little room to move due to the huge numbers of fish surrounding them. Overcrowding can lead to aggression between fish, and physical injuries such as damage to fins. Overcrowding can create poor quality water, with less oxygen available to the fish. Disease outbreaks are common in these overcrowded enclosures.
Feeding and handling practices
Food is sometimes withheld from fish so that they have empty guts prior to stressful procedures, such as relocation, grading (by size) and slaughter. This restriction of food can go on for days or even weeks, causing distress.
An overhead view of an Indonesian fish farm located in a freshwater reservoir, of masses of carp inside a floating cage feeding on food pellets being distributed into the water. The animals jostle in a crowded frenzy as they grab for the pellets.
Credit: Lilly Agustina, Act For Farmed Animals / We Animals Media.
Further Reading
THL shares details about fish farming on their website: Factory Fish Farming: What It Is And Why It's Cruel To Fish.
CIWF also has some useful information about Fish Farming and Fish Welfare.
Sentient Media’s website provides information about Fish Farms and why they are not as sustainable as we thought.
Fish Welfare Initiative’s report on “Fish Welfare Improvements in Aquaculture”.
Aquatic Life Institute’s Aquaculture Certification Schemes Benchmark: Aquatic Animal Welfare (Second Edition).