Tilapia Welfare

Citation

Garcia de Leaniz C & Rey Planellas S (2025) Tilapia Welfare. In: Tilapia: Aquaculture, Biology and Health Management. CABI. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781800629455.0008

Abstract
First paragraph: What is fish welfare and why does it matter? Fish welfare has been notoriously difficult to define (Iwama, 2007; Volpato et al., 2007), particularly in relation to fish farming (Huntingford et al., 2006; Kristiansen & Bracke, 2020; Stien et al., 2020). Good welfare is not the same as good health, although these terms are sometimes confused. To some authors, good health is a prerequisite for high welfare (Huntingford et al., 2006). Some assess fish welfare in relation to the ability to exercise preferences, i.e. the extent to which fish are able to live under conditions that were 'freely chosen' (Volpato et al., 2007). However, such a definition is nor readily applicable in captivity and is virtually impossible to implement in a commercial fish farm. A more pragmatic definition of fish welfare in relation to aquaculture is one that emphasizes freedom of negative experiences (e.g. pain, fear, hunger) and access to positive experiences (e.g. social companionship; Huntingford et al., 2006; Huntingford & Kadri; 2009, Stien et al., 2020).

Keywords
Tilapia; aquaculture; biology and health management; Tilapia welfare