Report on Currently Available Welfare Assessment Systems for Farmed Fish

Welfare assessment systems are important tools for evaluating the welfare of animals. This report provides a comprehensive review of existing welfare assessment systems for farmed fish, focusing on their methodologies, strengths, and limitations. It highlights the importance of welfare monitoring due to rising social concern and the ethical obligation to safeguard the welfare of farmed fish. Key findings include the variability of welfare indicators, scoring systems and integration models across species and farming systems. While many systems provide reliable insights into fish health, stress, and behaviour, challenges persist, including the lack of species-specific indicators, standardization of methodologies across species and production systems, and integration with farming operations. The report recommends the development of more holistic and standardized monitoring solutions to improve welfare outcomes and align with industry and regulatory expectations.