Animal category: Fish

Country Consultation on AH&W Priorities and Challenges

SCAR Animal Health & Welfare Collaborative Working Group

Published in 2026

Survey carried out for the SCAR AH&W Group, identifying Member States'  top animal health and welfare research priorities for 2025–2026 . Among priorities identified are a “One Health” approach, disease prevention, welfare indicators, livestock systems, transport, aquaculture, genomic tools, and the impacts of climate change.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal Categories: Fish, All Animals

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| Fish welfare in a changing world: New developments and current challenges

Rey Planellas, S., Saraiva, J. L., Gonçalves-de-Freitas, E., Arechavala-Lopez, P., Bovenkerk, B., Breen, M., Cooke, S. J., Føre, M., Northwood, L., Stien, L. H., Kadri, S., Noble, C., Nilsson, J., Rodriguez, F., Salas, C., Sandøe, P., & van deVis, H.

Published in 2026

Review highlighting advances in fish welfare, particularly regarding the cognitive and emotional abilities of fish and the growing recognition of their sentience in research, fishing, and aquaculture.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Existing Soundscapes and the Impact of Noise on the Welfare of Farmed Salmonids: A Review

Kathy Overton, Tim Dempster, Marco A. Vindas, Frode Oppedal, Luke T. Barrett

Published in 2026

Review of the limited number of studies on hearing in wild and farmed salmonids, with recommendations on steps towards ascertaining and mitigating the impact of the acoustic environment on the welfare of farmed salmonids.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Environmental Enrichment in Aquaculture: Linking Welfare Goals to Practical Application

O. Spiliopoulos, S. Kadri, M. Sinclair, M. Vanderzwalmen, C. Brown

Published in 2026

A review summarizing current knowledge on environmental enrichment, a key strategy for improving the welfare of farmed fish. Its effectiveness depends on the specific context and requires a tailored approach.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Fish husbandry systems: exercise of the EFSA AHAW Network

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Aitana López Baquero, Claudia Millán Caravaca, Chiara Fabris, Yves Van der Stede, Denise Candiani

Published in 2025

EFSA report providing an overview of farmed fish species and farming systems in the EU in order to anticipate future welfare requirements.

Document Types: Technical review

Animal categories: Fish

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Welfare Indicators for Aquaculture Research: Toolkits for Five Farmed European Fish Species

Chris Noble, Wout Abbink, René Alvestad, László Ardó, Marie-Laure Bégout, Nina Bloecher, Erik Burgerhout, Josep Calduch-Giner, Mauro Chivite-Alcalde, Petr Císař, Evan Durland, Åsa M. Espmark, Lynne Falconer, Martin Føre, Dimitra G. Georgopoulou, Karsten Heia, Gaute A. N. Helberg, David Izquierdo Gomez, Lill-Heidi Johansen, Gunhild Seljehaug Johansson, Kristbjörg Edda Jónsdóttir, Jelena Kolarevic, Aleksei Krasnov, Santhosh K. Kumaran, Bjarne Kvæstad, Thomas Larsson, Carlo C. Lazado, Angelico Madaro, Federico Moroni, Ingrid Måge, Jonatan Nilsson, Samuel Ortega, Nikos Papandroulakis, Jaume Pérez-Sánchez, Pamela M. Prentice, Sonia Rey Planellas, Bjørn Roth, Adrian Smith, Lars Erik Solberg, Orestis Stavrakidis-Zachou, Lars Helge Stien, Anja Striberny, Ragnhild Aven Svalheim, Bjørn-Steinar Sæther, Gerrit Timmerhaus, Hilde Toften, Linda Tschirren, Hans van de Vis, Elisabeth Ytteborg, Lucas A. Zena, Tone-Kari Knutsdatter Østbye

Published in 2026

Scientific summary highlighting the need to improve and harmonize fish welfare indicators in aquaculture research, taking into account species and life stages, in order to ensure animal protection, scientific quality, reliable results and reproducibility. The authors propose updated toolboxes of welfare indicators for five major species, incorporating euthanasia, sampling, data digitization, and European regulatory requirements into their review.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Focusing on biological stimuli: a new framework for environmental enrichment in aquaculture and fisheries fields

Yijie He, Zonghang Zhang, Zhenghao Xiao, Bo Liang, Jiezhang Mo, Boshan Zhu, Wenhua Liu

Published in 2026

Scientific synthesis on environmental enrichment for captive fish. Enrichment enhances fish adaptability and welfare, but its development is hampered by methodological and conceptual limitations. The authors propose new theoretical and practical frameworks to strengthen scientific rigor and guide the design of multisensory enrichment, particularly biotic enrichment, in aquaculture.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Gas bubble venting: A novel behavioral indicator of stress in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Mikkel Gunnes, Evelina A.L. Green, Inger Lise Andersen, Øyvind Øverli

Published in 2025

Identification of new behavioral indicators for stress in Atlantic salmon, notably bubble emission, which is a visible and sensitive marker that correlates to social aggression. This marker is more responsive than cortisol and could enable the automated detection of stress. improving welfare monitoring in aquaculture.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

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The road to reform: in support of a strong revision of animal transport rules

Gabriela Kubikova

Published in 2025

Guidance note on reforming European regulations on the transport of live animals

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Equines, Ovines, Fish, Porcines, Poultry

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A functional framework for a comprehensive study of welfare in fishes

Alvarado Maria Victoria, Cerdá-Reverter Jose Miguel, Espigares Felipe

Published in 2025

Study proposing an integrative framework to assess fish welfare, combining physiological, behavioral and affective measurements that allow users to go beyond traditional approaches that focus  on biological disorders.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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