What is fish farming, is it cruel and what can you do? We answer these questions for you.

Unfortunately, fish farms are one of the major ways that fish is produced across the world, with an estimated 73 to 180 billion fishes living in farms. So what is fish farming and what does it mean for the animals?

When did fish farming begin?

Fish farming is not a new phenomenon. In fact, the earliest evidence of fish farming comes from before 1000 BCE, with indications that carp were being farmed for food in ancient China.

In Europe, fish farming appears to date back all the way to Roman times, when aquariums or tanks of fish and crustaceans were kept before being eaten. However, this early fish farming was quite a departure from the size and scale of what exists today.

The first forms of industrial fish farming - the underwater equivalent of factory farming - appeared with the industrial revolution in the 19th century, but it wasn’t until the 1950s when the practice really took off.

Since then, it has expanded at such a rate that the World Bank now estimates that over 60% of all fish consumed will come from a farm by 2030.

What does fish farming mean?

Despite its rapid growth, there is little common knowledge of fish farming and what it entails. Many consumers think that the fish on their plate has come from the wild. This is true for some species (the vast majority of tuna, for example, is still wild-caught). However, there is nothing wild about fish farming.

Fish farming is the process of raising fishes in captivity, breeding them and eventually killing them to be sold for their meat. The fishes are farmed in enclosures, which can include cages submerged in natural bodies of water (like the sea or rivers), or in land-based artificial facilities.

Salmon, for example, are commonly farmed in sea cages, which are huge nets floating offshore containing vast numbers of individual fishes. After being raised in a freshwater system for the first year of their life, salmon will then be transferred to these coastal farms and kept within the confines of the cages until they are deemed ready for slaughter.

Another commonly farmed fish in the UK is the trout, who would naturally live in freshwater environments like rivers and streams. They are often farmed in ‘raceways’, which are man-made corridors of running water.

What's the difference between fish farming and aquaculture?

Aquaculture refers broadly to all types of water-based agriculture of aquatic plants and animals. Cultivation of seaweed and algae are among the least harmful forms of aquaculture when it comes to welfare.

Molluscs, or shellfish, are also commonly raised in aquaculture enterprises, including species like oysters, mussels, and clams. Crustaceans such as shrimp are also commonly farmed. Many of the same welfare issues that occur in fish farming are also present in the aquaculture of crustaceans.

No matter the species, industrial aquaculture carries various environmental risks. The bigger the operation, the greater the hazards.

Is fish farming cruel?

Much like the land animals we also campaign for, factory farming of fishes causes welfare issues that negatively impact their lives. These vary depending on the conditions in which the fishes are kept, and also from species to species.

Fishes are so wonderfully diverse, meaning that their needs vary from species to species, but there are some issues that impact the vast majority of fishes.

These include:

Environmental enrichment

Fishes are intelligent, sentient creatures and require stimulation. Fishes should be kept in an environment that aims to replicate their natural habitat in order to be happy and stress-free.

However, environmental enrichment is one of the most neglected areas of farmed fish welfare and more work needs to be done to understand what fishes need and to provide an environment that will give fishes a fulfilling life.

Feeding

Many of the fish species we farm in the UK, such as salmon and trout, are carnivorous and smaller fishes are part of their diet. This contributes to the depletion of wild fish populations, as we take fishes from the wild to feed to farmed fishes.

Despite efforts from the fish farming industry to move to more sustainable food sources, a recent estimate states that 1.2 trillion aquatic animals are used every year in the fish farming supply chain.

Stocking density

In the wild, dependent on their species, fishes have different preferences as to when they want to socialise and who with. Many types of fishes like to forage either alone or in teams. For example, you may be familiar with images of fishes shoaling - a behaviour often used to escape predation.

In farms, fishes have a small amount of space and therefore their natural behaviours are restricted, which has been proven to be stressful for them.

Water quality

It is important that the water quality on fish farms is monitored and well-maintained. You may think this is just so it doesn’t get polluted, and you’d be partly correct - no fish wants to exist swimming around in its own waste and that of others. Yet that can happen. But it's more than that - poor water quality affects the oxygen levels in the water and can leave fishes struggling to breathe properly.

Slaughter

Fishes feel pain - the scientific community has proven this time and again. It’s therefore important to ensure that any suffering that fishes may encounter when being raised for food is minimised.

The fact is that our consumption of aquatic animals as a population is on the rise. If killing fishes for food isn’t going away anytime soon, it is vital that they are killed in the most humane way possible. A way to achieve this is by effectively rendering the fish unconscious before it is killed, known as ‘stunning’.

Although a large proportion of the fish farming industry in the UK claims to stun fishes during slaughter, the law surrounding this topic is extremely unclear and recent investigations have shown the contrary.

It is important that we work on getting clarification of the law so that fishes are protected fully at the time of slaughter and treated as equal to land animals.

What change is needed for farmed fishes?

We are still learning about fishes and what each species needs in order to live a life free from suffering. However, one thing we do know is that fishes need to have more robust legal protections, and the area we’re starting with is at the time of slaughter.

In the past, the government has said there is not enough evidence to back up claims that fishes are sentient and feel pain. This is no longer a valid argument, as there is a large amount of research available to evidence the fact that fishes have the capacity to experience suffering. In a poll of the British public, 71% agreed that that fish should have the same legal protections as farmed land animals.

Therefore, it is vital that the government takes this evidence to clearly include farmed fishes in the existing slaughter regulations with clear parameters for stunning. This would make it abundantly clear that fishes must be stunned before they are killed.

This way, we can reduce the risk of suffering at the time of killing, by putting fishes on par with land animals, opening the door for further discussion on this topic and a more humane world for our aquatic friends.

Is wild-caught fish better than farmed fish?

There are problems associated with both fish farming and wild fisheries. While fishes in the wild often get to live their lives naturally, the capture and slaughter process is still often highly traumatic and painful for these animals.

Not only this, but wild fishing is plundering our oceans as fishes are removed from the sea at such a rate that they have not had enough chance to repopulate. This is bad news for the marine environment, leaving dolphins and other animals without enough food and ultimately, impacting the health of our planet.

What can you do?

If fish farming and wild fishing are both bad for fishes, what can you do? The best answer is to remove fish from your diet.

If you’d like more information on what The Humane League UK is doing to help improve the lives of farmed fishes, sign up to our emails where you can receive our latest campaign updates.

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