ASC - BAP - Global G.A.P. - Friend Of the Sea - MSC

Email to ASC

Sending to: Mr. Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC

Dear Mr. Ninnes,

Fish are complex, emotional animals and, like other farmed animals, are capable of suffering and feeling pain. Their interests need protecting, yet, most fish certification schemes are not doing enough to protect the wellbeing of the fish they certify. Will you please update your welfare standards to dramatically improve the lives of fish covered by your program?

Compassion in World Farming recently audited the top five global fish assurance schemes according to various welfare criteria and found that the ASC can improve or create standards in a number of areas:

• Humane slaughter. Fish suffer horribly at the time of slaughter and can go through painful ordeals like having their gills cut without prior stunning, or gasp for breath as they slowly die over a long period of time. The ASC appears to have no standards in this area, and humane slaughter, with species-specific requirements, should be mandatory for all farms in your scheme.
• Sufficient space allowance. Fish farms often crowd too many fish into one pen, leading to aggression, stress and higher risk of disease. Please implement specific upper limits on the number of fish in one enclosure based on the needs of each species.
• Protect wildlife. Farmers should not be allowed to harm or kill wild animals that come near or into their farm in search for fish, such as seals and dolphins, regardless of whether they are endangered or not. Humane forms of deterring these predators should be mandatory.
• Prohibit starvation. Farmers often purposely starve fish for up to two weeks before slaughter, causing them great distress. The ASC must limit the fasting time to the minimum period needed to empty the gut (1 or 2 days for many species).
• Enrichment. For fish to have good welfare, they should be able to perform natural behaviors and live in an interesting and complex environment that supports good mental wellbeing. Barren tanks, raceways and cages are not acceptable habitats for fish, and the ASC should require that fish have a suitable environment to live.
• Feeding fish to fish. Our oceans are under huge pressure from overfishing and using billions of wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish is inherently unsustainable. As a certification scheme that represents sustainability, you should be making stronger efforts to reduce the demand for fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture.
• Antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics is a major problem in animal farming and contributes to antibiotic resistance, a huge threat to human health. We welcome the positive steps made by the ASC in promoting responsible antibiotic use, but the ASC should further this by prohibiting all routine use of antibiotics and, instead, focus on reducing the need for antibiotics by ensuring higher welfare living conditions for fish.

Groups like the ASC carry great power to shape animal welfare for the entire fish farming industry. The challenges facing aquaculture are many, and as your influence grows you are in a unique position to help billions of fish that deserve a better life.

Thank you for the work that you have done so far in this area. There is still a long way to go, and I’ll be following your progress with great interest.

Fish are complex, emotional animals and, like other farmed animals, are capable of suffering and feeling pain. Their interests need protecting, yet, most fish certification schemes are not doing enough to protect the wellbeing of the fish they certify. Will you please update your welfare standards to dramatically improve the lives of fish covered by your program?

Compassion in World Farming recently audited the top five global fish assurance schemes according to various different welfare criteria and found that the BAP can improve or create standards in a number of areas:

• Humane slaughter. Fish suffer horribly at the time of slaughter and can go through painful ordeals like having their gills cut without prior stunning, or gasp for breath as they slowly die over a long period of time. Although requiring humane slaughter, BAP does not specify acceptable methods for each species and this can be open to misinterpretation. Species-specific humane slaughter methods should be mandatory for all farms in your scheme.
• Sufficient space allowance. Fish farms often crowd too many fish into one pen, leading to aggression, stress and higher risk of disease. Please implement specific upper limits on the number of fish in one enclosure based on the needs of each species.
• Protect wildlife. Farmers should not be allowed to harm or kill wild animals that come near or into their farm in search for fish, such as seals and dolphins, regardless of whether they are endangered or not. Acoustic deterrent devices should not be allowed as they harm wild mammals. Humane forms of deterring these predators should be mandatory.
• Prohibit starvation. Farmers often purposely starve fish for up to two weeks, before slaughter, causing them great distress. BAP must limit the fasting time to the minimum period needed to empty the gut (1 or 2 days for many species).
• Enrichment. For fish to have good welfare, they should be able to perform natural behaviors and live in an interesting and complex environment that supports good mental wellbeing. Barren tanks, raceways and cages are not acceptable habitats for fish, and BAP should require that fish have a suitable environment to live.
• Feeding fish to fish. Our oceans are under huge pressure from overfishing and using billions of wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish is inherently unsustainable. As a certification scheme that represents sustainability, you should be making stronger efforts to reduce the demand for fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture.
• Antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics is a major problem in animal farming and contributes to antibiotic resistance, a huge threat to human health. BAP should prohibit routine and prophylactic (preventative) antibiotic use and, instead, focus on reducing the need for antibiotics by ensuring higher welfare living conditions for fish.

Groups like the BAP carry great power to shape animal welfare for the entire fish farming industry. The challenges facing aquaculture are many, and as your influence grows you are in a unique position to help billions of fish that deserve a better life.

Thank you for the work that you have done so far in this area. There is still a long way to go, and I’ll be following your progress with great interest.

Fish are complex, emotional animals and, like other farmed animals, are capable of suffering and feeling pain. Their interests need protecting, yet, most fish certification schemes are not doing enough to protect the wellbeing of the fish they certify. Will you please update your welfare standards to dramatically improve the lives of fish covered by your program?

Compassion in World Farming recently audited the top five global fish assurance schemes according to various different welfare criteria and found that GLOBALG.A.P can improve or create standards in a number of areas:

• Humane slaughter. Fish suffer horribly at the time of slaughter and can go through painful ordeals like having their gills cut without prior stunning, or gasp for breath as they slowly die over a long period of time. Although requiring humane slaughter, GLOBALG.A.P does not specify acceptable methods for each species and this can be open to misinterpretation. Species-specific humane slaughter methods should be mandatory for all farms in your scheme.
• Sufficient space allowance. Fish farms often crowd too many fish into one pen, leading to aggression, stress and higher risk of disease. Please implement specific upper limits on the number of fish in one enclosure based on the needs of each species.
• Protect wildlife. Farmers should not be allowed to harm or kill wild animals that come near or into their farm in search for fish, such as seals and dolphins, regardless of whether they are endangered or not. Humane forms of deterring these predators should be mandatory.
• Prohibit starvation. Farmers often purposely starve fish for up to two weeks, before slaughter, causing them great distress. GLOBALG.A.P must limit the fasting time to the minimum period needed to empty the gut (1 or 2 days for many species).
• Enrichment. For fish to have good welfare, they should be able to perform natural behaviors and live in an interesting and complex environment that supports good mental wellbeing. Barren tanks, raceways and cages are not acceptable habitats for fish, and GLOBALG.A.P should require that fish have a suitable environment to live.
• Feeding fish to fish. Our oceans are under huge pressure from overfishing and using billions of wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish is inherently unsustainable. As a certification scheme that represents sustainability, you should be making stronger efforts to reduce the demand for fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture.
• Antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics is a major problem in animal farming and contributes to antibiotic resistance, a huge threat to human health. GLOBALG.A.P should prohibit routine antibiotic use, and should not allow the use of antibiotics deemed ‘critically important’ for human medicine by the World Health Organization and, instead, focus on reducing the need for antibiotics by ensuring higher welfare living conditions for fish.

Groups like GLOBALG.A.P carry great power to shape animal welfare for the entire fish farming industry. The challenges facing aquaculture are many, and as your influence grows you are in a unique position to help billions of fish that deserve a better life.

Thank you for the work that you have done so far in this area. There is still a long way to go, and I’ll be following your progress with great interest.

Fish are complex, emotional animals and, like other farmed animals, are capable of suffering and feeling pain. Their interests need protecting, yet, most fish certification schemes are not doing enough to protect the wellbeing of the fish they certify. Will you please update your welfare standards to dramatically improve the lives of fish covered by your program?

Compassion in World Farming recently audited the top five global fish assurance schemes according to various welfare criteria and found that Friend of the Sea can improve or create standards in a number of areas:

• Humane slaughter. Fish suffer horribly at the time of slaughter and can go through painful ordeals like having their gills cut without prior stunning, or gasp for breath as they slowly die over a long period of time. Friend of the Sea appears to have no standards in this area, and humane slaughter, with species-specific requirements, should be mandatory for all farms in your scheme. Friend of the Sea should also be working towards humane slaughter for wild fish.
• Sufficient space allowance. Fish farms often crowd too many fish into one pen, leading to aggression, stress and higher risk of disease. Please implement specific upper limits on the number of fish in one enclosure based on the needs of each species.
• Protect wildlife. Farmers should not be allowed to harm or kill wild animals that come near or into their farm in search for fish, such as seals and dolphins, regardless of whether they are endangered or not. Humane forms of deterring these predators should be mandatory.
• Prohibit starvation. Farmers often purposely starve fish for up to two weeks, before slaughter, causing them great distress. Friend of the Sea must limit the fasting time to the minimum period needed to empty the gut (1 or 2 days for many species).
• Enrichment. For fish to have good welfare, they should be able to perform natural behaviors and live in an interesting and complex environment that supports good mental wellbeing. Barren tanks, raceways and cages are not acceptable habitats for fish, and Friend of the Sea should require that fish have a suitable environment to live.
• Feeding fish to fish. Our oceans are under huge pressure from overfishing and using billions of wild-caught fish to feed farmed fish is inherently unsustainable. As a certification scheme that represents sustainability, you should be making stronger efforts to reduce the demand for fishmeal and fish oil in aquaculture.
• Protect wild fish during capture. Fish that are caught from the wild suffer horribly due to the industrial-scale capture methods that cause pain, stress, injury and fear. Friend of the Sea should require that certified fisheries use more welfare-friendly methods that minimize the time and extent of suffering.
• Antibiotics. The overuse of antibiotics is a major problem in animal farming and contributes to antibiotic resistance, a huge threat to human health. Friend of the Sea should prohibit routine antibiotic use and should not allow the use of antibiotics deemed ‘critically important’ for human medicine by the World Health Organization and, instead, focus on reducing the need for antibiotics by ensuring higher welfare living conditions for fish.

Groups like Friend of the Sea carry great power to shape animal welfare for the entire aquaculture and fishing industries. The challenges facing the industries are many, and as your influence grows you are in a unique position to help billions of fish that deserve a better life.

Thank you for the work that you have done so far in this area. There is still a long way to go, and I’ll be following your progress with great interest.

Fish are complex, emotional animals and, like other farmed animals, are capable of suffering and feeling pain. Their interests need protecting, yet, most fish certification schemes are not doing enough to protect the wellbeing of the fish they certify. Will you please update your welfare standards to dramatically improve the lives of fish covered by your program?

Compassion in World Farming recently audited the top five global fish assurance schemes according to various welfare criteria and found that the MSC can create standards in two crucial areas:

• Protect wild fish during capture. Fish that are caught from the wild suffer horribly due to the industrial-scale capture methods that cause pain, stress injury and fear. The MSC should require that certified fisheries use more welfare-friendly methods that minimize the time and extent of suffering.
• Humane slaughter. Wild-caught fish die from painful injuries and suffocation that can take many minutes or hours. Those that survive capture and landing can go through painful ordeals like having their gills cut without prior stunning or may be gutted while still alive. The MSC should be working towards humane slaughter for wild fish.

Groups like the MSC carry great power to shape animal welfare for the entire fishing industry. The challenges facing wild fisheries are many, and as your influence grows you are in a unique position to help billions of fish that deserve better.

Thank you for taking the time to consider changing the lives of countless fish. There is a long way to go, and I will be following your progress with great interest.