Animal category: Fish

Second edition of a reference tool for welfare-based certification of aquaculture facilities. It analyzes current welfare requirements as part of the basic farming standards of seven international seafood certification programs.

Scientific review highlighting the fact that the usual animal welfare paradigms do not apply to animals in zoos, particularly when the animals are undergoing veterinary treatment. In such circumstances, the animals' physiology and behavior are deregulated, and freedom of choice and comfort are limited. The authors propose that a distinction should be made between the state of well-being experienced by the animal (well-being) and the societal management of animal welfare (welfare), and to base the wefare management of zoo and aquarium animals on preventive medicine.

Study on the welfare of the main fish species farmed in the European Union. It includes the state of knowledge of fish welfare and identifies gaps, the needs of fish, and farming methods that cause problems in fish welfare.

Scientific article studying the impact of environmental enrichment on the cognitive abilities of rainbow trout as a model aquaculture species. Using an operant conditioning device, after an acquisition phase in which the fish learned to discriminate between two colors, they all successfully completed four inversion learning tasks, demonstrating the cognitive flexibility of rainbow trout. They all passed the generalization task. Fish raised in an enriched environment performed better in the acquisition phase and in inversion learning.

Answer to a question on the government's intentions regarding the implementation of measures to combat the suffering of aquatic animals and the funding of a research program to reduce animal suffering in commercial fishing.

Fact sheet describing commercially-available "welfare-friendly" stunning and slaughtering equipment for some of the most common farmed species in aquaculture, explaining how the equipment works, emphasizing the importance of proper calibration, and of its context of use. 

Publication of the papers given at the Agronomic Innovation Forum "Bien-être animal : faire se rencontrer attentes sociétales et professionnelles" (encounter between societal and professional expectations) held on May 5, 2022 at the VetAgro Sup veterinary campus in Lyon.

Scientific review summarizing how cortisol and reproductive steroids regulate social behaviors in teleost fish, and how different aspects of social behavior can be used as indicators of welfare based on species-specific characteristics.

Scientific literature review of publications that consider the impact of livestock systems on both the environment and animal welfare. It shows that environmental impact assessment using life cycle assessment (LCA) has a much more consistent, standardized and thorough methodology than animal welfare assessments. It concludes that research is needed to integrate animal welfare assessment into LCA.

Scientific review proposing a new conceptual framework it calls the circular welfare economy (CWE), intended to facilitate the transition to sustainable agriculture. The CWE applies the notion of circularity to welfare, defined as the quality of life as it is perceived by the individual animal itself. It also considers human integrity, defined as openness and honesty, to be a prerequisite for sustainability.