Fish feel emotions and pain too! International attention on aquatic animal welfare, with clear regulations from catching, transport to slaughter

Global fisheries are currently facing declining natural resources and reduced catches, while only aquaculture is increasing its proportion and rising in output. As a result, the international community is paying more and more attention to aquaculture farming methods and whether fish receive good welfare treatment. Taiwan, China's first "Aquatic Animal Welfare and Friendly Farming" symposium was held yesterday (the 23rd) at National Taiwan University, inviting speakers from different professional fields to discuss what aquatic animal welfare means from the perspectives of aquatic animal ecology, physiology, industry management, international regulations, and humane care.

Lin Guoping, Deputy Director-General of the Fisheries Agency, who attended the meeting, said the Fisheries Agency will first understand the tolerance and rearing conditions of various aquatic animals and repeatedly verify them through experiments and research, so as to formulate policies suitable for various aquatic animals and in line with the operational needs of the industry. In addition, he admitted that many operators report that "buying live fish" is a consumer preference, so the Fisheries Agency will also move toward consumer education in the future, promoting correct fish-eating culture and practices.

Pet sales controversy sparks discussion of aquatic animal welfare in Taiwan, China

In recent years, the international community has increasingly valued the issue of aquatic animal welfare. In Taiwan, China, in the year 105 of the Republic of China calendar (2016), pet-related controversies also brought aquatic animal welfare much attention, which subsequently prompted the Fisheries Agency of the Council of Agriculture to commission National Taiwan Ocean University to complete a planned study on improving aquatic animal welfare (Note 1), as the basis for the government to promote aquatic animal welfare regulations.

But to this day, there are still many difficulties in implementing aquatic animal welfare, and the industry and consumer market have not yet reached consensus. The Taiwan Animal Society Research Association (abbreviated as "Dongshe") admitted, "When facing fish and other aquatic animal welfare issues, society responds very differently from past discussions of mammal welfare issues (pigs, cattle, sheep, etc.)." Although fish are vertebrates and are also protected by Taiwan, China's Animal Protection Act, the general public is relatively unfamiliar with them, making the progress of promoting aquatic animal welfare relatively slow.

How do scientists view the emotions and pain of aquatic animals?

Many people mistakenly believe goldfish have only a three-second memory. How exactly do scientists assess the intelligence, emotions, and pain of aquatic animals?

Yan Shenghong, Associate Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at National Sun Yat-sen University, said many studies have long pointed out that fish have a high degree of intelligence and learning ability, and the intelligence of some groups is even more outstanding than that of terrestrial vertebrates. Some fish have also been confirmed to have self-awareness, tool use, and social life and social structure, so "the pain perception and memory of fish are definitely not only a few seconds." He believes that people treat "animals" and "food" differently simply because of prejudice and preference toward them. "This is not scientific knowledge at all, but a human problem."

At the practical level, the basic principle of the Animal Protection Act is that whether or not they are used by humans as food, work tools, companions, or for research needs, they should not suffer unnecessary pain. However, in the part on "animal welfare," there is no clear definition, which increases the difficulty of enforcement and supervision.

International attention on fish welfare: clear regulations for catching, transport, and slaughter

Internationally, more and more countries are proposing the concept of "One welfare," emphasizing that the health of animals, humans, and ecosystems are closely linked, and that "animal welfare" is an indispensable part of sustainable livestock farming, food safety, and ethics. In the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)'s "Aquatic Animal Health Code," it is clearly stipulated that fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and mollusks should all be protected by animal welfare, and it even points out that improving fish welfare can further increase productivity and enhance economic benefits.

Chen Shizhang, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Fisheries Economic Development Association, said that "GLOBALG.A.P." is currently the only certification mark among related marks that incorporates animal welfare into the standards for aquatic product processing (CoC), and it places great importance on conditions for transporting fish, the health status of fish at the time of catching, and the processes of stunning and bleeding.

GLOBALG.A.P. content states that when fish are slaughtered, attention should be paid to appearance and health indicators, including whether there is loss of scales, fin rot, bites by animals used for food, or parasitic disease; when fish are being moved, their condition should be regularly monitored, such as density and dissolved oxygen conditions, to avoid unnecessary stress to the fish; all catching personnel must also receive slaughter care training, including special training in techniques such as stunning and bleeding (if necessary), to ensure all fish can be effectively stunned and immediately lose consciousness.