Aquatic welfare standards essential for seafood sustainability and health advancements, say researchers

The Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) has released new research demonstrating how animal health and welfare are distinct but essential and complementary concepts in seafood production. The researchers say that understanding this distinction is key to raising environmental sustainability standards and ensuring ethical practices throughout supply chains.

Aquaculture production is rising globally due to the growing push for “Blue Foods” (food derived from aquatic animals, plants, or algae caught or cultivated in freshwater and marine environments). According to ALI, this makes it increasingly necessary to develop more efficient production systems for seafood. 

Welfare crucial to crustaceans

Animal health is a necessary part of animal welfare. However, the researchers say that it alone does not sufficiently demonstrate a high level of welfare without considering the animals’ psychological needs.

Welfare assessment frameworks and measurements utilized by the aquaculture sector have traditionally focused only on welfare’s physical or health-based aspects. Positive welfare in aquaculture can be analyzed according to various species-specific, science-based measurements and assessment protocols. 

Tessa Gonzalez, ALI’s head of research, tells Food Ingredients First: “Prioritizing animal welfare, beyond mere compliance, is fundamental to a truly sustainable aquaculture sector.”

“By understanding the distinct yet interconnected roles of animal health and welfare, and by collectively calling for the adoption of practices that enhance the quality of life for farmed animals, the industry can start to foster a more harmonious and stable relationship between producers, consumers, and the environment, ultimately leading to greater public trust and long-term success.” 

“Integrating animal welfare into core decision-making is not just ethically sound, but it’s also increasingly recognized as a vital component of global food security.” 

Boosting welfare standards

The study review, “Harmonizing Animal Health and Welfare in Modern Aquaculture,” examines how the adoption of welfare-enhancing technologies and practices benefits animals and producers. 

Studies state that progress in aquaculture comes from comparison and cooperation.Evidence shows that treating welfare as more than a formality ensures a higher quality of life for farmed aquatic animals, minimizes product loss and reputational risk, and enhances final product quality to align with consumer expectations for ethically sourced seafood.

Welfare-centric practices also decrease public health and disease risks, reduce reliance on antibiotics, and enhance food safety. Further findings show that farming practices that prioritize welfare and health lead to resource efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

The article’s case studies demonstrate that sustainable advancements in aquaculture stem from comparing promising approaches, fostering coordination and buy-in, and focusing on cost efficiency.

The review features various case studies, including: 

iFarm’s BioSort: Precision farming for Atlantic salmon, sea-cage aquaculture that has novel technology to recognize individual animals and their health records.

F3 Feed Innovation Network: A collaborative network to accelerate the scaling of innovative, substitute aquaculture feed ingredients such as bacterial meals, plant-based proteins, algae, and yeast to replace wild-caught fish globally.

KelpRing — Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Center: The KelpRing comprises a negatively buoyant, year-round platform on which natural kelp grows, providing habitat enrichment for fish. 

Tidal by X in collaboration with Cognizant at Mowi farms: Underwater camera systems and machine perception tools for gathering intelligence on real-time growth, weight distribution, feeding control, and automatic lice counting for salmon.

Treating welfare as more than a formality enhances final product quality to align with consumer expectations for ethically sourced seafood.Gonzalez says the review represents “a turn of the tide” from which the industry can aggregate actionable examples of responsible modern aquaculture practices. These practices must be designed to respect the interests of all stakeholders, including farmed animals, and ensure that their quality of life in captivity is maintained and enhanced. 

She says articulating the observed benefits in farming operations that have adopted positive welfare processes can expose a more sustainable, harmonious relationship between producers and animals in the seafood industry and help facilitate meaningful progress with collective buy-in. 

Boosting aquaculture advocacy

ALI says its advocacy is based on the following principles: reduce the number of animals in or remove them from the seafood system and its supply chain; refine the conditions in which animals are currently kept or captured in the system and its supply chain; replace animal products with sustainable plant-based or cell-based alternatives to the greatest extent possible; and reject the introduction of additional animals into the system.

“These principles guide our advocacy across the supply chain and are ‘policy pressure points’ where critical changes could have cascading effects. We must acknowledge through regulatory, corporate, and legislative policies that aquatic animals are individual beings deserving of a higher quality of life within our global systems,” says Gonzalez. 

“By broadening our moral perspective to care for these individuals instead of viewing them merely as products, we enhance our own well-being, promote a healthier environment, and take steps toward securing a more sustainable future for all.”

Gonzalez points to a recent report issued by anonymous food industry professionals in the UK, which warned of an “interconnected set of crises” posing a serious threat to food security.

“Unfortunately, these warnings and concerns are not exclusive to land-based agriculture and could perhaps only be amplified throughout our aquatic systems unless coordinated, cross-sector transformations progress,” she concludes.