The Animal Welfare Observatory (OBA) has launched an open letter of support seeking to unite all stakeholders in aquaculture to advance towards a stronger European framework for fish welfare. The initiative, presented on July 21, is aimed particularly at the scientific community, public administrations, aquaculture sector entities, and civil society organizations. The goal is to build a broad and cross-cutting base of support so that the protection of fish on aquaculture farms is no longer the neglected issue compared to other farm animals.
The letter comes at a time when the European Commission is working on revising EU animal welfare legislation, a process that opens the door to including fish in specific legislation for the first time. OBA points out that Spain already has significant experience in this field, thanks to the collaborative work between the industry, scientists, government agencies, and social organizations, which has resulted in the Spanish guidelines for fish welfare in aquaculture. These collaboratively developed guidelines have established common principles, criteria, and indicators for assessing animal welfare throughout the entire production cycle.
Cross-sector support
The open letter has already garnered the support of the Spanish Aquaculture Business Association (APROMAR), which sees it as a reaffirmation of the collaborative path the sector has been pursuing for years. Compassion in World Farming and several research groups specializing in fish physiology and welfare have also joined in, reinforcing the cross-cutting nature of the proposal. According to Jesús del Saz, an institutional advocacy specialist at OBA, “This letter is not starting from scratch. Spain has spent years building a technical and collaborative foundation that now allows us to contribute to the European debate based on knowledge and experience.”
The European context: a historic opportunity
OBA's initiative comes at a pivotal moment for European aquaculture. The European Commission is reviewing animal welfare regulations and has acknowledged that the protection of farmed fish remains uneven and less developed than that of other livestock. Brussels is already preparing a future law specifically for fish welfare, something unprecedented until now. In this context, the open letter aims to serve as a tool for Spain's accumulated knowledge and experience to contribute to the development of a robust, science-based, and practically applicable regulatory framework.
The Spanish experience as a starting point
Since 2022, the Spanish aquaculture sector, the scientific community, public administrations, and social organizations have been working together to develop fish welfare guidelines. The result is several documents dedicated to general guidelines and specific guidelines for species such as European seabass, gilthead seabream, and rainbow trout. These guidelines have established common principles, criteria, and indicators for assessing animal welfare throughout the entire production cycle, from rearing to slaughter. According to Jesús del Saz, the goal is for this collaborative work to help build a solid, science-based European framework that is applicable in practice.
Four shared principles
The open letter is structured around four fundamental principles. The first advocates for the progressive integration of fish welfare into European frameworks, based on a scientifically, technically, and operationally viable foundation. The second calls for the recognition of the knowledge and experience already developed in Spain as a starting point for future progress at the European level. The third underscores the need for future regulatory frameworks to be based on clear, measurable, and applicable criteria that will effectively improve fish welfare. And the fourth highlights collaboration among stakeholders and organizations as essential for achieving lasting and widely shared progress.
Individuals and organizations interested in signing the open letter can do so through the platform set up by OBA to gather endorsements for the upcoming European debate. With this initiative, the Animal Welfare Observatory aims to use the collaborative work begun in Spain as a basis for European legislation that, for the first time, specifically addresses aquaculture fish, thus ensuring a more sustainable and ethical future for the sector.
