Long-term memory

Science has increasingly demonstrated over the years that fishes are animals with incredible capacities and cognitive abilities. A good example is the memory capacity of such aquatic animals.

Have you ever heard that fishes have a memory of only three seconds? This is a widespread popular belief. However, there is scientific evidence indicating that, as humans, fishes may have a good long-term memory. These aquatic animals may express memory for months - up to almost one year under certain circumstances.

If you are interested, see more details in the infographic here.

In collaboration with Centro de Aquicultura da UNESP - Jaboticabal, Brazil

(posted on Dec. 5, 2023)

New article published in a brazilian magazine of the sector!

Disseminating scientific-based knowledge is one of our activities to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic species in a practical way. Good communication is fundamental to effectively reach our goals. So, publishing articles in magazines of the aquaculture sector may also be part of our actions.

Recently, Caroline Marques Maia co-authored an article about the importance of fish welfare in aquaculture to access the international market, together with Leonardo Barcellos, Ana Silvia Pedrazzani and Daniel Santiago Rucinque. The article was pulished in Panorama da Aquicultura, which is the brazilian magazine with the greatest reach in the aquaculture sector in Brazil!

> It was a great opportunity to spread the word and share knowledge about farmed fishes that are relevant to improve their welfare conditions in a practical way.

> If you are interested, the article may be accessed at the magazine page here. 

(posted on Nov. 27, 2023)

Official AAC recommendation based on a report we produced!

We are proud to announce that an official recommendation fully based on a report we produced was delivered by the Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC) to the European Commission last month!

The recommendation is about using ethology, an understanding of fish behaviour, to improve fish welfare and production. It was developed from the AAC report 'Using Ethology to Improve Farmed Fish Welfare and Production', which was prepared by us and published last year.

> If you would like to check this recommendation, access it here.

(posted on Nov. 23, 2023)

Our podcast is on Spotify and we released a new episode!

One of our activities is developing scientific dissemination actions to share knowledge related to the welfare of fishes and other aquatic species. As part of this, The Fish Mind is a programme of our podcast Fish Talk focused on the capacity of fishes to suffer, feel other affective states, and display cognitive abilities.

Last week we released the first episode about cognitive abilities of fishes in this programme! Did you know that, as humans, fishes may have a good long-term memory? Contrary to popular belief, these aquatic animals can remember things for a long time. This podcast episode is focused on this topic, bringing relevant scientific evidence about fish memory.

> The Fish Mind programme results from a collaboration with Centro de Aquicultura da Unesp (Caunesp), Brazil.

> If you would like to listen to this episode, go to our Spotify page here or to our website at Fish Talk page here. 

(posted on Nov. 21, 2023)

Participation in the Workshop launching fish welfare guidelines in Brazil!

Last saturday, Caroline M. Maia participated of the Workshop launching animal welfare guidelines in fish farming in Brazil. It was a free online event organized by Fórum Nacional de Proteção e Defesa Animal. She was invited to participate in a round table to discuss important topics related to fish welfare in aquaculture.

Carol briefly presented the FishEthoGroup Association and the work we do on improving fish welfare based on their behaviours by promoting research, helping to disseminate knowledge, giving consultancy, and training about fish welfare.

We believe that outreach actions like this are as important as our other activities to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals in a practical way.

(posted on Nov. 13, 2023)

Editorial paper published!

We believe that solid scientific knowledge is fundamental to improve the welfare of fishes and other farmed aquatic animals in a practical way. Thus, the publication of good quality papers that help filling the knowledge gaps on the welfare of such animals is the main basis for this.

In this line, Joao L. Saraiva and Caroline M. Maia collaborated as co-authors of the Editorial opening the Research Topic 'Aquatic animal welfare as a driver for the improvement of food production systems’, which was published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science journal. Murilo Quintiliano from FAI Farms and other researchers also collaborated with this Research Topic.

> If you are interested, please access the Editorial and other papers published in this Research Topic here.

(posted on Nov. 6, 2023)

Participation in the XL Encontro Anual de Etologia in Brazil!

Disseminating scientific-based knowledge is one of our activities to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals in a practical way. Thus, making presentations at scientific events is also an important part of our activities to spread the word and share knowledge about fish behaviour and welfare.

As part of this, Caroline Marques Maia participated of the XL Encontro Anual de Etologia (EAE) in São Paulo, Brazil. Carol taught a mini course about scientific dissemination of fish ethology and welfare. She also gave an oral presentation and participated in a coordinated session, talking about our research with Nile tilapia preferences for environmental enrichments, and her own post-doc project, which is about a welfare assessment of farmed aquatic species based on their profiles at the fair-fish database.

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

(posted on Nov. 2, 2023)

New published paper!

We believe that solid scientific knowledge is fundamental to improve the welfare of fishes and other farmed aquatic animals in a practical way. Thus, the publication of good quality papers in this field is the main basis for this.

In this line, a new paper from Caroline M. Maia was recently published in the Veterinary Quarterly journal. This well-based Letter to the Editor is about the importance of considering fish individuality for their welfare. It is open access.

In this paper, Carol highlights that fishes are sentient animals expressing individual responses and discusses possibilities about how to measure and to assure individual fish welfare under high densities, and about the importance of raising awareness about fish individuality. In a final section, what should we do from all this is also discussed.

> If you are interested, access the full paper here.

(posted on Oct. 27, 2023)

Silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus)

Silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus) is a freshwater fish naturally found in Asian waters. This barb feeds on plants and invertebrates, but usually being more herbivorous. It is a fish species farmed in many Southeast Asian countries, being used as a biological control for aquatic weeds.

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

> You may also access its overview page here and its WelfareCheck profile here in the fair-fish database.

(posted on Oct. 24, 2023)

Participation in a brazilian event about scientific dissemination!

Making presentations at scientific events is also an important part of our activities to spread the word about fish behavior and welfare. We believe that scientific dissemination is as important as any other of our actions to help improve the welfare of farmed fishes in a practical way.

As part of this, Caroline Marques Maia recently participated online in the 'EDICC - Encontro de Divulgação Científica e Cultural (EDICC 10 2023)' hosted in Campinas, Brazil. She presented our podcast Fish Talk, explaining the importance of scientific dissemination actions about fish behavior and welfare, how the podcast came about, and presenting our fair-fish database and The Fish Mind programs.

Great opportunity to share knowledge about fish welfare and our podcast!

> The Fish Mind program counts with the collaboration of Centro de Aquicultura da UNESP - Jaboticabal, Brazil.

(posted on Oct. 20, 2023)

Participation in the 4th Annual Aquatic Life Conference!

María J. Cabrera-Álvarez and Caroline Marques Maia will participate in the Conference organized annually by the Aquatic Life Institute. They will speak on the panel 'Essential tools and resources', presenting the database of fair-fish international and how to use it to get an overview of the welfare of farmed aquatic especies, which is Caroline's post-doc project developed in collaboration with Centro de Aquicultura da Unesp (Caunesp), Brazil.

We believe that disseminating scientific-based knowledge is as important as our other actions to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals in a practical way. Thus, making presentations at scientific events is also an important part of our activities.

> The panel will take place next Wednesday at 10 am (EST time zone). Registration for the Conference is free! 

(posted on Oct. 13, 2023)

Project about the welfare assessment of aquatic farmed species based on fair-fish database!

Our team has been involved in many areas of the aquaculture sector over the years. We use that expertise to promote the welfare of fish through many initiatives, which are based on four pillars: Consultancy, Advanced Training, Public Dissemination of Knowledge and Scientific Research.

As part of this, 'Welfare assessment of farmed species based on fair-fish database' is a post-doc project developed in collaboration with Centro de Aquicultura da Unesp (Caunesp), Brazil. This project aims to make a general assessment of the welfare of aquatic farmed species based on their WelfareScores, which are given in their profiles in the fair-fish database. An evaluation of the criteria used in such profiles to determine which of them are critical in this scenario is another objective.

(posted on Oct. 10, 2023)

Article about fish welfare certification and guidelines in aquaculture!

Disseminating scientific-based knowledge is one of our activities to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic species in a practical way. Good communication is fundamental to effectively reach our goals! So, publishing articles in magazines or newspapers may also be part of our actions.

Last month, Joao L. Saraiva and Pablo Arechavala Lopez co-authored an article about guidelines and certifications of fish welfare in aquaculture, together with Morris Villarroel from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM). The article was pulished in The Conversation, the world’s leading publisher of research-based news and analysis!

It was a great opportunity to spread the word and share knowledge about farmed fishes that are relevant to improve their welfare conditions in a practical way.

If you are interested, the article is free and may be accessed at the publisher page here.

(posted on Oct. 2, 2023)

Our participation at European Aquaculture Society Conference!

Disseminating scientific-based knowledge is one of our activities to help improving the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals in a practical way. Thus, making presentations at scientific events is also an important part of our activities to spread the word and share knowledge about fish behaviour and welfare.

As part of this, our team had a significant participation at the European Aquaculture Society (EAS) Conference last week, in Vienna, Austria. Joao L. Saraiva opened the fish welfare session talking about 'Climate change & welfare of farmed fish', and gave a presentation about rainbow trout welfare at slaughter. María J. Cabrera-Álvarez, Pablo Arechavala-Lopez and Esther Hoyo Alvarez also participated, giving presentations about the welfare of seabream and european seabass during slaughter and the welfare of european seabass reared in experimental sea cages.

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

(posted on Sept. 25, 2023)

Challenges we face everyday

FishEthoGroup is a team of motivated professionals focused on improving fish welfare based on their behaviours.

In this amazing video from Deep Sea Reporter, Joao L. Saraiva talks about our work, pointing out the challenges we face everyday, both on fisheries and aquaculture conditions. Much more research is urgently needed to better base our actions to improve fish welfare. As João says, we believe in science to be the driver of change!

If you are interested, watch the full video here.

(posted on Sept. 19, 2023)