Bettering the welfare of farmed fish and farming decrease within the meals chain is essential to sustainable aquaculture in Europe, because it typically results in much less air pollution, decrease antibiotic use and larger meals safety, a pioneering new report launched at this time by Compassion in World Farming urges.
The report, Rethinking EU Aquaculture: for Folks, Planet, and Animals, is the primary to attract collectively the sustainability and environmental points attributable to intensive EU fish farming, the necessity to transfer away from any such manufacturing to enhance animal welfare and create a extra sustainable trade, and to present clear coverage options for legislators. It requires strict new EU necessities for fish farming and insurance policies that promote sustainable options like farming bivalves and seaweed. That is aligned with the European Inexperienced Deal as animal welfare and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.
Almost 90% of assessed wild fish shares are overfished or fished at their most yields and aquaculture is usually heralded as an answer. Nonetheless, a big proportion of recent aquaculture farms carnivorous fish (like salmon, trout or tuna) in intensive feed-based techniques, which truly contributes to overfishing and creates many environmental and welfare issues.
Written by the NGO’s fish coverage staff, led by Dr Krzysztof Wojtas, the report supplies 15 clear coverage suggestions and descriptions the issues attributable to intensive, feed-based manufacturing of aquatic animals, which is growing in Europe and worldwide. It exhibits that these techniques usually lead to a web lack of meals obtainable for individuals and highlights the pressing have to steer the EU aquaculture trade in direction of sustainable manufacturing of aquatic species which can be decrease within the meals chain, in in depth techniques.
“Fish farming within the EU is neither sustainable, nor moral, because the authorized necessities are very weak. Nonetheless, this 12 months will likely be decisive. The EU is overhauling its outdated legal guidelines defending farmed animals and farmed fish should not be forgotten. Higher welfare requirements is not going to solely stop pointless struggling in underwater manufacturing facility farms, they can even assist scale back the trade’s destructive impacts on the surroundings and meals safety,” stated Olga Kikou, Head of Compassion in World Farming EU.
Between 0.5 and 1.2 billion fish are farmed yearly within the EU. To maximise revenue, fish are generally reared at excessive stocking densities and are sometimes killed inhumanely with out prior gorgeous, inflicting great struggling. Farmed fish have strikingly excessive mortality charges and lots of die earlier than slaughter.
Intensive fish farming can be dangerous to the surroundings by polluting with fish wastes and chemical compounds, inflicting biodiversity loss, illness outbreaks and overuse of antibiotics. Farming carnivorous species, comparable to shrimp, salmon and trout, has main environmental impacts and requires feed constructed from fish that might be used for human consumption, comparable to anchovy or sardines.
On 5 December, a petition calling for brand spanking new requirements to guard the welfare of farmed fish signed by greater than 150,000 individuals was handed in to the European Fee by Compassion in World Farming.
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