Document type: Citizen survey published in CIWF France
Authors: CIWF, Eurogroup for Animals
Preview: EU citizens asked about the welfare of farmed fish
CIWF have teamed up with Eurogroup for Animals to bring out a survey,conducted for us by Sapience, who polled over 9,000 people in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands. We wanted to discover the public's attitudes towards fish and fish consumption, along with their knowledge of fish farming practices. The results of our survey, published today, show that 94% of French citizens believe that fish welfare should be protected to the same or greater extent thanthe welfare of other animals we eat (a view shared by 91% of respondents in the nine countries of the European Union).
Great suffering in fish
Fish are sentient beings, capable of feeling pleasure and pain. Despite this, up to a billion of them are farmed every year in the European Union without any legal obligation to meet their specific welfare needs. Overcrowding makes them more susceptible to disease and stress, aggression and physical injuries, and starvation is commonplace. In the European Union, fish are often killed inhumanely, and many endure slow and painful deaths by asphyxiation, or even by being gutted alive.
European citizens want change
The results of this survey were clear in all nine countries: EU citizens want change.
- Many EU citizens are oblivious to the most common fish farming methods and their consequences, and this is all the more true of the French! Just 31% of French people are aware that fish are typically unable to express their natural behaviors, compared to an EU average of 42%. And only 30% of French people know that antibiotics are commonly used in fish farming to compensate for these unsuitable farming conditions, versus 40% of EU citizens.
- EU citizens, and particularly the French, do however know that fish can feel negative emotions such as fear (72% of French respondents). 71% of EU citizens know that fish can feel pain.
- This means that EU citizens expect better farming practices. 78% of French people polled said, for example, that farmers should be legally required to stun aquatic animals before slaughter, as did 70% of EU citizens.
When it comes to buying fish products, almost all French people (94%) said they would like to buy fish raised in better welfare conditions, and 80% said they would like fish products to include clear welfare labelling that reflect how the fish were reared and killed.
Legislation is needed
In response to this strong support, we are today sending an open letter to the European Commissioner-designates for Fisheries and Oceans and for Health and Animal Welfare, asking them to adopt species-specific welfare provisions for farmed fish as part of the review of legislation on animal welfare which they promised to publish by the end of 2023, but which has not yet been completed. This move is backed by four out of five people polled across all nine EU countries, who are supportive of legislation that promotes good practices and the latest science to meet the unique welfare needs of farmed aquatic animals. (...)
Link to the study (pdf in English)
