Doug Waley on the lives of farmed fish and how we can help them
May 14, 2024
01:06:40
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Doug Waley from Eurogroup for Animals discusses fish farming challenges, importance of water quality, confinement issues, and priorities for improving fish welfare. The podcast explores the global impact on farmed fish, differences between wild-caught and farmed fish, and recommendations to enhance fish welfare standards.
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Quick takeaways
Improving fish welfare requires addressing chronic stress due to confinement and lack of stimulation, emphasizing a shift towards positive welfare for a better mental experience.
Collaborating with producers, certifiers, and policymakers is crucial to advance welfare practices and legislative changes for aquatic animals.
Global trends in fish farming highlight varying challenges in different regions, emphasizing the impact of water quality, stocking density, and feed formulation on fish welfare.
Deep dives
The Impact of Confinement and Stress on Fish Welfare
The podcast episode discusses the significant impact of chronic stress on fish in aquaculture due to confinement and lack of stimulation, leading to high mortality rates. The speaker highlights the importance of addressing this stress to improve fish welfare, emphasizing a shift towards positive welfare for a better mental experience. The role of behavioral and technocratic solutions in enhancing fish welfare standards is explored, highlighting the need for more engineering and technical solutions in fish farming.
Insights into Fish Welfare Advocacy and Policy Work
The episode delves into the world of fish welfare advocacy and policy work, featuring Doug Whaley, a leading advocate for fish welfare at Eurogroup for Animals. The discussion focuses on the challenges faced by farmed fish and the efforts to secure meaningful improvements in fish welfare standards across the globe. Doug shares insights on collaborating with producers, certifiers, and policymakers to advance welfare practices and legislative changes for aquatic animals.
Global Trends in Fish Farming and Challenges Faced
The episode sheds light on global trends in fish farming, highlighting that around 85-90% of farmed fish are produced in East Asia, with China being a major supplier. The discussion covers major fish farming regions like Chile, Norway, Nigeria, Egypt, and Brazil. The challenges of different farming systems, from net pens to earth ponds, and the impact of water quality, stocking density, and feed formulation on fish welfare are explored.
Understanding Fish Handling and Slaughter Practices
The podcast episode delves into the handling and slaughter practices in fish farming, emphasizing the importance of humane treatment and reducing stress during these processes. Various methods like crowding fish, withholding feed, and stunning are discussed, highlighting the need for improved practices to minimize injuries, stress, and mortality among farmed fish. The impact of different slaughter methods, such as asphyxiation and evisceration, on fish welfare is also examined.
Challenges and Opportunities in Advocating for Fish Welfare
The episode addresses the challenges and opportunities in advocating for fish welfare, discussing the role of certifications, collaborations, and legislative changes in improving fish welfare standards. The conversation touches on the setbacks and progress in EU legislation for fish welfare, emphasizing the need for continuous advocacy efforts to elevate welfare practices in aquaculture. The role of research centers, stakeholder collaborations, and consumer awareness in driving positive change for aquatic animals is highlighted.
Long overdue conversation on the important topic of fish this week with the lead for fish at Eurogroup for Animals, Doug Waley. Doug’s expertise lies in working for fish at the EU level however most of the episode is filled with important information relevant to fish farming across the globe.
It’s a technical one but really insightful as we explore the everyday life of a farmed fish, the challenges they face and what can be done to secure meaningful wins for the billions of fish farmed each year.
As always please check out the episode on youtube if you’d prefer or listen in, it’s a great episode!
Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:
00:00:00:00 | Intro 00:02:09:21 | Inspiring figures in the movement 00:04:29:11 | Fish welfare 00:06:06:03 | Origin of imported fish 00:07:29:06 | Fish farming conditions 00:15:37:03 | Importance of water quality 00:19:39:07 | Welfare challenges 00:27:04:03 | How many fish are farmed? 00:32:56:03 | Fish confinement 00:35:44:16 | Priorities for helping fish 00:41:28:09 | Motivation for producers to improve mortality rates 00:43:55:04 | The state of fish advocacy 00:47:42:21 | Quality of certifications 00:50:17:08 | The next step in collaborating with producers 00:52:01:02 | Work on EU legislation 01:01:16:21 | Closing questions
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