Principle 4: The aquaculture industry upholds responsible aquatic animal health and welfare practices

Rationale

Aquatic animal health and welfare are crucial for responsible aquaculture and underpin the ASC vision for the development of the industry. Through this commitment, ASC also addresses a spectrum of global challenges, including food security, ecosystem resilience, global warming and threats to public health. By recognising the connection between these issues, aquatic animal health and welfare in aquaculture emerges as a critical focus, providing a holistic approach to safeguarding people, aquatic animals and the environment.

The ASC Farm Standard adopts a comprehensive framework for aquatic animal health and welfare that encompasses ethical, economic, environmental, and regulatory considerations to mitigate risks, and prevents poor aquatic animal health and welfare outcomes.

ASC embraces a definition of welfare defined by the physical and mental state of an aquatic animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and its capacity to cope with the environment providing opportunities foraquatic animals to ‘thrive’ and not simply survive. This perspective is linked to the concept of Positive Animal Welfare (PAW), which can be characterised by four features: positive emotions, positive affective engagement, quality of life and happiness. These features extend the original Five Freedoms8585Green, T., & Mellor, D. (2011). Extending ideas about animal welfare assessment to include ‘quality of life’ and related concepts. New Zealand Veterinary Journal, 59(6), 263–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/00480169.2011.610283,8686Mellor, D. J. (2016). Updating Animal Welfare Thinking: Moving beyond the “Five Freedoms” towards “A Life Worth Living”. Animals, 6(3), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6030021 to incorporate consideration of quality of life. 

The criteria in this principle cover best practices in handling and slaughter, as well as disease prevention and the use of therapeutants, for fish, crustaceans and molluscs. By promoting high standards of aquatic animal health and welfare, ASC not only reinforces its commitment to responsible aquaculture but also addresses consumer concerns, and contributes to the ethical production of sustainable blue foods.