We are proud to give a welcome to the Volume 2 and 3 of the welfare guidelines for the Spanish aquaculture dedicated to European sea bass and Gilthead sea bream respectively. Both Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) and Animal Welfare Observatory (AWO) have collaborated to bring this project to its consecution.
You can find the CIWF web news here.
These two volumes are part of the collaborative effort initiated 4 years ago between NGOs, The Spanish Aquaculture Industry Association (APROMAR), the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, FishEthoGroup and the scientific community, to create a framework focusing on welfare within Spanish Aquaculture. This workstream has helped to get to know each other and created mutual understanding between the participants and creates an opportunity for continual improvement.
These two volumes follow the framework established in the first volume and provides specific welfare guidance for European sea bass and Gilthead sea bream. They describe actual practices, welfare indicators for different parts of the rearing cycle and suggest best welfare practices.
European sea bass and Gilthead sea bream welfare guidelines in Spanish Aquaculture
Scale: This is a milestone for animal welfare in Spanish aquaculture as the guidelines have been developed and agreed not only by scientists and animal welfare organizations, but also heavyweights in the industry like the Spanish Government (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) and the Spanish Aquaculture Industry Association (APROMAR).
These guidelines represent an overall improvement over the previous voluntary regulation and includes a recognition that ice slurry is not acceptable method and needs to transition to humane slaughter methods.
DG Mare (Marine Affair and Fisheries – European Commission) has shown interest to know these guidelines and publish them on their own website, which provides a hub of information pertaining to best practices in aquaculture in every EU Member State. In fact, the sea bass and sea bream guides will be presented during a special event organized by DG Mare on aquaculture and technical seminar, which will take place in Brussels on June 18th.
Timeline: The publication of the Vol 2: Welfare of European sea bass, and Vol 3: Welfare of Gilthead sea bream of Guide on Fish Welfare in Spanish Aquaculture took place on 26 April 2024.
Participants: Animal Welfare Observatory (AWO), Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the Spanish Aquaculture Industry Association (APROMAR), the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA-CSIC), FishEthoGroup Association, AQUAB -FISH (Autonomous University of Barcelona), CEIGRAM (Polytechnic University of Madrid), Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, (University of Cádiz), Animal Welfare Service from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the General Secretary of Fisheries from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Representatives of Spanish producers of both species (Avramar, Cooke Spain, Aquanaria).
Further target: AWO and CIWF will continue advocating for the full implementation of these guidelines through the Spanish aquaculture industry, and specially for the successful phasing oout the use of ice slurry.
We also share the ambition and will lobby for the guidelines to be integrated in the Spanish regulatory framework, and to use the guidelines as an example for the aquaculture industry across Europe.
Successful Tactics: The collaborative nature of this work is what has made it possible and successful. CIWF and AWO have forged strong relationships with APROMAR and producers to not only create a strong set of guidelines on sea bass and sea bream welfare but also to have an influence on future fish welfare guidelines, regulations and certifications.
Scalability: Our goal is to encourage their implementation and achieve a guide for every major farmed fish species in Spain and encourage other countries and their producer organisations to do the same and implement welfare guidelines. We also aim to encourage other animal production industries to follow this example.
Follow Up: The work on species-specific fish welfare guidelines will continue on May 2024 focussing on the welfare of Rainbow trout in Spain.
Please do get in touch with Dr Daniel Sánchez ([email protected]) if you are interested in this project.