New Paper Out!

> New paper published!

We believe that solid scientific knowledge is fundamental to practically improving the welfare of fish and other farmed aquatic animals. High-quality publications in this field are the cornerstone of achieving this goal.

💡 In this context, our team member Caroline M Maia co-authored a paper recently published in Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. This study examines the preference responses of Nile tilapia for artificial water hyacinth as a structural enrichment, under different stocking densities.

> The authors showed that Nile tilapia expressed a strong preference for this easy-to-build and inexpensive enrichment —especially when kept in crowded tanks. This finding highlights that such artificial structure may be a useful option to improve this fish welfare in farms.

> If you are interested, access this new published paper here.

(posted on May 5, 2025)

Crucian carp

The crucian carp (Carassius carassius) is a freshwater fish found in lakes, ponds, rivers, and reservoirs across Europe and Asia. Originally farmed in China and Japan, it’s now raised in many countries, often in ponds, pens, or rice fields. Providing plants and soft substrates could help improve its welfare in farms. 

>> If you would like to know more about Crucian carp, please take a look at our new post about this species at blog ConsCIÊNCIA Animal blog here.

>> If you are interested, you can also access its overview page and its WelfareCheck profile in the fair-fish database here and here.

(posted on April 29, 2025)

New podcast episodes at our fair-fish database programme!

The Fair-Fish Database Programme is a series of bite-sized audio episodes from our Fish Talk podcast. Each episode focuses on a species with a profile already published in the fair-fish database. 

💡 The idea behind this programme is to share quick insights into the natural needs, behaviours, and farming conditions of fish and other farmed aquatic animals —all in under 3 minutes.

Last week, we dropped new episodes. This time, they're about Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), Blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), and Hybrid tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus × O. aureus).

> If you are interested, don't miss the chance to check them out!

> You can go to our podcast page and listen to the new episodes (series 19) here.

(posted on April 24, 2025)

>> Registration Open – Advanced Course in Ethology!

MEASURING BEHAVIOUR: Defining, quantifying, and analysing behavioural data

A 3-day training for undergrad, MSc, and PhD students interested in animal behaviour. Includes lectures, ethogram design, behavioural data collection, and a practical session at Palma Aquarium.

📍 Location: IMEDEA - Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies, Esporles – Mallorca, Spain
 📅 Dates: June 10th–12th, 2025
 💶 Fee: €200 | Limited to 20 participants
 🧑‍🏫 Lecturers: Dr. Joao L. Saraiva, Dr. María J. Cabrera-Álvarez, Dr. Pablo Arechavala-Lopez

> Organised by IMEDEA-CSIC/UIB with FishEthoGroup and Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR).
 
>> To apply: mail@fishethogroup.net

(posted on April 21, 2025)

New fish welfare guide published!

Good communication is fundamental to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes in a practical way. Thus, the publication of well-founded fish welfare guidelines are also part of our actions.

💡 Pablo Arechavala-Lopez from our team coordinated the preparation and publication of "A guide on fish welfare in Spanish aquaculture - Volume 4: Welfare of rainbow trout", making another important step toward practical improvements in fish welfare. This publication is the result of the dedicated efforts of a great working group involving several institutions and companies. 

> This work has been financed by APROMAR with co-funding from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the Spanish Government and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund of the European Union.

> If you would like to access the new guideline in English or Spanish, you can access it here.

(posted on April 10, 2025)

Participation in a Meeting!

Disseminating science-based knowledge is one of our key activities to help improve the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals in a practical way. Making presentations at scientific or industry events is also an important part of our efforts to spread the word and share knowledge about fish behaviour and welfare.

💡 As part of this mission, our team member Joao L. Saraiva attended the '25th meeting of the Scientific Network on Risk Assessment in Animal Health and Welfare', which was organized by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), in Parma, Italy. João participated online by giving a presentation on a survey of fish husbandry systems in the EU. 

> It was a successful and fruitful opportunity to share our ideas and exchange knowledge.

(posted on April 7, 2025)

Presentation at Seminar in China!

Disseminating science-based knowledge is one of our key activities to help improve the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals in a practical way. Making presentations at scientific or industry events is also an important part of our efforts to spread the word and share knowledge about fish behaviour and welfare. 

💡 As part of this mission, María J. Cabrera-Álvarez, a member of our team, presented at the 2nd Aquatic Animal Welfare Research and Practice Seminar in Hangzhou, China. She shared insights on the impacts of environmental enrichment on fish welfare, using heart rate as an assessment tool. This event was organized by the Catch Welfare Platform and Zhejiang University.

>> It was a successful opportunity to share our ideas and exchange knowledge! 

(posted on March 31, 2025)

New Papers Coming Out!

We believe that solid scientific knowledge is fundamental to practically improving the welfare of fishes and other farmed aquatic animals. High-quality publications in this field are the cornerstone of achieving this goal.

💡 Recently, our team members María J. Cabrera-Álvarez and Joao L. Saraiva, along with our students Jose Carlos Campos Sanchez and Inês Cacela Rodrigues, have co-authored two new papers!

The first is a review paper that provides a comprehensive overview of the current findings on neuropeptides in fishes, discussing their potential implications for the physiological and emotional states of these aquatic animals, and therefore, their welfare. This review has been published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology.

The second is a research paper on the preferences of a client reef fish (Chaetodon auriga), demonstrating that it prefers a more blue-saturated cleaner fish (Labroides dimidiatus). This suggests that the blue colouration of cleaners may be a true signal of individual quality. It has been published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

>> If you are interested, please access the new published papers here and here.

(posted on March 6, 2025)

New podcast episode!

The Fish Mind is a programme of our podcast Fish Talk that is focused on the capacity of fishes to suffer, feel other affective states, and display great cognitive abilities. The idea is to present this important information in an informal dialogue of a few minutes.

💡 We have just released our first episode about positive affective states of fishes in this programme. Did you know that, like humans, fishes may have their own preferences? And these complex responses were already demonstrated to be expressed for several resources or characteristics. This podcast episode is focused on this topic, bringing relevant scientific evidence about fish preferences.

> If you would like to listen to this episode, please go to our Spotify page here or to the podcast page on our website here.

(posted on Feb. 11, 2025)

The fruits of our work are making headlines in the media!

Disseminating scientifically-based knowledge is one of our key activities aimed at improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals. So, media coverage of our work plays a crucial role in this.

💡A review paper published in Reviews in Aquaculture and co-authored by our team member Joao L. Saraiva has been showing up in the News. This study examines several crucial water quality parameters in aquaculture, as well as emerging concerns like microplastics and crude oil. By synthesizing the behavioral changes caused by the water quality parameters, this review provides valuable insights for future research, emphasizing the importance of maintaining good water quality for both fish welfare and aquaculture productivity. Check them out!

> postal
> tsf radio notícia
> país ao minuto
> sustentix
> barlavento
> ipacuicultura
> jornal do algarve

(posted on Feb. 3, 2025)

New blog post!

The Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) is a marine fish found in the eastern side of the Atlantic ocean, besides Mediterranean and southern Black Sea waters. It is one of the most important commercial fish species in its natural habitat - more than 348,000 tons of this mackerel are caught annually. This mackerel is usually caught by purse seine and pelagic trawl fishing methods.

> If you would like to know the main fish welfare concerns related to the capture of this mackerel by purse seining, take a look at our new post about this at the blog ConsCIÊNCIA Animal here.

> If you are interested, you can also access its full WelfareCheck profile in the fair-fish database here.

(posted on Jan. 28, 2025)

New podcast episode!

Fair-fish database programme features short audio episodes from our Fish Talk podcast. These audios focus on species with profiles already published in the fair-fish database. We aim to provide insights into natural needs, behaviours and farming conditions or welfare hazards in fisheries for fishes and other aquatic animals - all in just a few minutes.

💡Yesterday, we launched our fourth episode focused on a fished species. It's about European hake (Merluccius merluccius) caught using set net fishing - a profile now available in the fair-fish database's catch branch.

> If you would like to listen to our new episode, go to our podcast page here.

(posted on Jan. 21, 2025)

Stocking density issues on fish farms

Unnatural densities and aggregations commonly found in farming conditions can increase the risk of infections, aggressive social encounters, and food competition for farmed aquatic animals.

Determining the appropriate density is not an easy task. Fish requirements are complex and highly dependent on the species and life-stage, as well as on farm characteristics and farming systems. 

💡 Therefore, this issue should be addressed with an integrative approach, considering welfare indicators at the individual, group, and environmental levels, but also the maintenance conditions, procedures, and specific training used on farms, always taking into account the particular species and its life stage. 

> Source: Finding the “golden stocking density”: A balance between fish welfare and farmers' perspectives (2022). Frontiers in Veterinary Science

(posted on Jan. 14, 2025)

New Paper Coming Out!

Our team members Caroline Marques Maia, Pablo Arechavala, María Cabrera-Álvarez, and João L. Saraiva have co-authored a paper now available online as a pre-proof in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science! This study investigated the preference responses of Nile tilapia for different structural enrichments, demonstrating that such fish preferences are a matter of time and frequency of visits. 

> The authors show that although Nile tilapia prefers to visit both a shelter and a complex structure similarly, this fish prefers to stay longer at the shelter. Thus, the number of visits or the time spent at a resource provides distinct preference responses.

> Access the already published pre-proof of this paper here.

(posted on Jan. 7, 2025)

Season's greetings!🎄

We, from the FishEthoGroup team, send you warm greetings for this Christmas and New Year. We hope that in 2025, we can increasingly contribute to improve the welfare of captive and wild-caught fishes by promoting research, helping to disseminate knowledge, giving consultancy, and training about fish welfare.

Happy holidays! See you in 2025 🙂

(posted on Dec. 20, 2024)