Aquatic Animals

• Scientific and Technical review

  • Animal Welfare: global issues, trends and challenges, Vol. 24(2), 2005
  • Animal welfare: focusing on the future, Vol. 33(1), 2014
    

Welfare of farmed fish

Improving welfare of farmed fish worldwide

The use of farmed fish for food or any other purpose carries the ethical responsibility to avoid unnecessary suffering of these animals. It is also a critical relationship between welfare and health aquatic animals. The OIE has developed welfare standards for farmed fish that cover transport, stunning and killing for human consumption and killing for disease control purposes. Find the standards on animal welfare published in the Aquatic Code (and Terrestrial Code) in this OIE infographic on animal welfare.

In addition, an OIE Global Animal Welfare Strategy has been adopted to provide continuing direction and coordination of the OIE’s actions on this important topic. This strategy focuses on four pillars: 

• Development of animal welfare standards
• Capacity building and education
• Communication with governments, organisations and the public
• Implementation of animal welfare standards and policies

Access here to the OIE portal on animal welfare