Why aquatic animals?

Aquatic animal welfare is both a highly neglected and highly tractable issue. Up to 2-3 trillion wild caught fishes, 100 billion farmed fishes, trillions of wild caught shrimps, and 350-400 billion farmed shrimps are killed globally each year, and experience high-suffering conditions. Fish feel pain, emotion, and have impressive cognitive abilities, and more research is emerging to prove the same for other aquatic animals. Policies and seafood certifications must include high welfare standards for aquatic animals in farms and marine capture fisheries. Compared to terrestrial farmed animals, aquatic animals are killed 35:1, yet to date there is negligible advocacy specifically on their behalf. Worldwide, there is a massive and growing push to expand aquatic animal farming, often called the “blue revolution." More than 50% of aquatic animal products consumed globally now come from farms, and this number is rising, with aquaculture considered the fastest growing food sector. Product certifiers, retailers, and consumers are slowly taking an interest in animal welfare, but aquatic animals have largely been left out of this discussion. We believe the time to act is now, to mitigate the industry's growth, prevent the creation of the worst "fish factory farms," and to ensure that where aquatic animals are still farmed and killed, the highest possible welfare standards are in place.

How will my donation be used?

By donating to Aquatic Life Institute, you will be supporting our main priority areas, including our coalition work, certifier campaign, supply chain work, and policy pursuits. These key areas are all underpinned by research that is carried out by our research team.

How effective is my donation?

With the generous support of our donors, we have achieved significant victories in just the past year, from publishing our first report on stunning and slaughter in aquaculture, second Aquaculture Certification Schemes Benchmark Report, expanding the Aquatic Animal Alliance to 140+ member organizations from 70+ countries, launching the Aquatic Animal Policy (AAP) focus group, executing the largest to-date global Aquatic Life Conference with 620 participants, and hiring 2 new team members. These are just a few of our most recent achievements that wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our donors. We hope to continue our programs and secure momentous wins for aquatic animals in 2024 and onward.