Interview on Fish Welfare with Jenny Canham from Animal Equality

What have been the most recent findings of your recent investigations?

Animal Equality UK’s latest investigation, released in January 2023, shows drone filming of an aquaculture site operated by Faroese company Bakkafrost. The footage was collected in October 2022, following reports over recent months of fish suffering from poor gill-health. The footage shows buckets full of dead salmon being collected from Meall Mhor Loch Fyne in Scotland, in a process known as ‘lift up’.

This investigation led us to researching further into mortality rates of Scottish salmon, and the results were shocking. We found that on-farm mortality rates from 2022 are the highest on record. 2.8 million farmed salmon were reported to have died on farms across Scotland during the month of September 2022 alone, and based on the steep rise reported over recent years, the numbers for 2023 are set to be even higher if swift and meaningful action is not taken.

Fish die prematurely on farms for a variety of reasons, including violent handling or transportation, rough lice treatments, ‘treatment losses’ resulting from chemical mistakes or human error, algal blooms, infections or infectious diseases, severe weather conditions, stressful environments, and predation. 

As well as the impact this has on animal welfare, this can have dire consequences for the environment too. Waste from fish feed and faeces can pollute the water around the intensive fish farms, and disease can be widespread, leading to higher chemical and pesticide use, which can further contaminate the area and impact local marine life.

Understandably, the public has been outraged by this latest investigation, and members of the Scottish Parliament have demanded an urgent inquest into the entire industry. We cannot ignore such alarming evidence that is having serious consequences for both animal welfare and the environment.

How can the UK Government increase protections for aquatic animals in the food system?

We’re currently at a crucial moment where the Government has a unique opportunity to strengthen legal protections for farmed fish. The Animal Welfare Committee, an official advisory body for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), has been tasked with the role of assessing what legislation ought to be enacted to better protect farmed fish at the time of killing. Animal Equality has been providing close consultation throughout this research phase and the AWC will soon release an update to its 2014 Opinion on the Welfare of Farmed Fish at the Time of Killing. Since 2014, so much has happened in the world of fish welfare. For example, in February 2021, Animal Equality released a first-of-a-kind investigation showing the slaughter of farmed salmon at a slaughterhouse in Scotland, whereby fish were being bludgeoned to death and thrown to the floor while still conscious. Through this, and other investigations over the past few years, we have collected damning evidence against this industry and can use this to inform how fish should be better protected in law.

It’s essential that fish receive species-specific protections under the Welfare at Time of Killing (WATOK) regulations. They are currently not included in this, which means they only receive very basic and minimal protections under The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. This isn’t enough and fish are at great risk of suffering prolonged and agonising deaths as a result.

Further, it is essential that fish also receive stronger oversight by way of mandatory inspections and CCTV in fish slaughterhouses. We know fish and other aquatic animals feel pleasure and pain, so it’s about time they receive these basic legal protections, at the very least. There’s really no logical reason for them not to.

What do you find is the main challenge when working to improve fish welfare?

I find the main challenge when working to increase protections for fish is the widespread portrayal of the aquaculture industry which is, in many ways, inaccurate. Scottish salmon is often synonymous with ‘higher welfare’, however, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our investigations have shown that fish are experiencing extreme suffering which points to a problematic industry that needs to address the issues exposed through undercover footage. 

This is part of the bigger picture in creating more empathy for fish and raising awareness of the issues they face. Until recently, we really didn’t know much about fish, and there’s still so much we don’t know about these fascinating animals. 

That’s why a large part of our work for fish involves working to dispel the myths, and working with world-leading fish welfare experts and academics to share the science. A lot of people aren’t aware that fish feel pain and can suffer, much the same as all animals. 

There is now overwhelming scientific agreement that fish are sentient, but we have to share this knowledge to help the rest of the world to learn more about fish, otherwise, how can we expect people to care about them?

The work that Animal Equality, as well as other animal protection organisations that are part of the Aquatic Animal Alliance, is doing is helping to paint a truer picture of the industry and encouraging people to see fish as unique individuals, who are in dire need of protection.

What progress has Animal Equality made for fish recently?

Animal Equality has made landmark progress for fish over the past couple of years. As well as releasing critical investigations that have exposed various cases of fish experiencing extreme suffering, we have achieved legal progress for these animals through meeting with representatives of the Scottish Government to achieve mandatory inspections in fish slaughterhouses as a legal requirement, from 1st February 2022. A Freedom of Information request submitted by Animal Equality in 2023 revealed that five separate inspections have now been carried out since then. Inspections have the potential to impact the 52 million salmon reared and slaughtered in the UK each year, if done regularly and against a robust set of criteria. This critical progress shows that change is possible in this area, and we hope the rest of the UK will now follow suit.

We have also made further waves in this area by presenting at the first ever Parliamentary meeting to discuss fish welfare in July 2022, along with other organisations working in the field including The Humane League UK and the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation. Moments like this really are essential to the movement, and prove that fish are now beginning to receive the consideration they deserve in policy discussions.

We hope that these milestones act as catalysts to influence similar progress throughout the rest of the world. There is so much work to be done for fish, but these actions have helped decision-makers as well as the public to see that fish deserve the same thought and regard as other animals. We look forward to continuing this work to achieve further milestones for fish in the very near future.

What can people do to get involved in Animal Equality’s work for fish?

Members of the public are so important to the work we carry out in defence of fish, and a groundswell in public support shows that we are creating more empathy towards these often forgotten animals.

People can take action by learning more about the issues and signing our petition to demand change for fish at animalequality.org.uk.

We also have a network of volunteers called the Animal Protectors who take regular, quick and easy online actions to help fish and other farmed animals. You can be a part of this community by signing up at animalequality.org.uk/animalprotectors.

And we can all take action on a daily basis by choosing to leave fish and other animals off our plates.

By taking action, we can ensure that fish are not forgotten.