by Wasseem Emam
African aquaculture has witnessed substantial growth in recent decades, driven by increasing global demand for protein and the continent's potential for sustainable aqua-farming. However, this rapid expansion has raised concerns about the sustainability of the industry. As the industry matures, there is a growing recognition of the need to prioritise sustainability issues such as animal welfare, ensuring that these animals are raised in environments that meet their biological and behavioural needs.
Current state of animal welfare in African aquaculture
While there has been progress in certain areas such as amongst the mega-farms in the Great African Lakes in the East, the overall state of animal welfare in African aquaculture is still far behind Europe and the Americas. Many factors such as limited resources, lack of awareness and inadequate infrastructure can contribute to suboptimal animal husbandry and welfare conditions. This is true for all farmed animals but even more true for aquatic animals, the long-neglected group amongst animals reared for food.
Smaller-scale operations, in particular, which categorise the vast majority of African aquaculture activity, may not prioritise animal welfare as a primary concern. A survey carried out on the state of Kenyan aquaculture by our team at Ethical Seafood Research (ESR), in partnership with Nautilus Collaboration and the African Union’s animal welfare specialist, Dr Mwenda Mbaka, found that many farmers had never heard of the term ‘animal welfare’ and had received no training around good handling practices to reduce stress. However, the majority of survey respondents reported a great interest in receiving further training around these issues. Similar findings were reported through a series of stakeholder workshops we carried out in Egypt during the summer of 2023.
Moreover, besides the East African mega-farms working towards exporting their products that have an inherent need to ensure they meet stricter welfare standards, there are positive developments elsewhere in the continent. A number of African countries such as Egypt and South Africa have established aquaculture regulations that include provisions for ensuring animal welfare considerations albeit limited in scale. Additionally, there are now a number of local and international organisations such as ESR and the Ghana-based Animal Welfare League, working closely with local stakeholders to promote best welfare practices in African aquaculture. These initiatives focus on the basics such as good water quality management, determining appropriate stocking densities, the prevention of disease outbreaks as well as the introduction of humane handling and slaughter practices.
Key challenges and opportunities
Although the current trajectory of animal welfare considerations in African aquaculture remains promising, several key challenges must be addressed in order to ensure the sector avoids some of the pitfalls faced by nascent aqua-farming sectors elsewhere:
Lack of awareness: Many fish farmers and consumers are unaware of the importance of animal welfare and its impact on the quality of the product, as well as the moral incentives for reducing animal suffering.
Limited resources: Small-scale farmers often lack the resources to implement welfare-friendly practices as they are operating in a tough sector with restricted profit margins. Practices such as reducing stocking densities or monitoring water quality have a cost component attached to them that is not negligible for this segment.
Inadequate infrastructure: Poor infrastructure can hinder the implementation of effective welfare measures during key processes such as the ‘harvesting’ that occurs at the end of a fish production cycle. Farmers often have to make do with very little.
Climate change: Climate change poses significant threats to aquaculture, including increased water temperatures, altered water quality, and extreme weather events. This is likely to have considerable knock-on effects on animal welfare by reducing farmer capacity to introduce higher welfare practices and leading to it being less of a priority.
Policy and enforcement: A lack of regulation and enforcement means that the sector does not have adequate guidance on how to approach issues of health and welfare, nor the added incentive to introduce good measures in order to be legally compliant.
To overcome these challenges, a multi-faceted approach is recommended:
Education and training: Investing in education and training programs for farmers and industry professionals can improve knowledge and skills in animal welfare. This has been evidenced through the training workshops carried out by ESR in partnership with FAI Farms in Egypt and in collaboration with the Africa Network for Animal Welfare in Kenya.
Development of welfare standards: Establishing clear and enforceable welfare standards that are appropriately tailored to the African aquaculture context can provide a framework for improving practices that can be audited and improved upon.
Support for research and innovation: Supporting research can lead to the development of innovative technologies and practices that can enhance fish welfare. This has been evidenced through the recent pilot project launched by ESR on the introduction of electrical pre-slaughter stunning to the Egyptian aquaculture industry.
Collaboration and partnerships: Continued collaboration between governments, industry, academia, and NGOs can facilitate knowledge sharing and resource mobilisation. To this end, ESR has partnered with the African Union-InterAfrican Bureau for Animal Resources to explore paths for mainstreaming animal welfare considerations within the continent’s burgeoning aquaculture sectors.
Consumer awareness: Raising consumer awareness about the importance of animal welfare in both terrestrial and aquatic animals can drive demand for sustainably produced and ethically sourced seafood.
A vision for the future
In the next 10-20 years, ESR envisions a future where African aquaculture is globally recognised as a pioneer in the implementation of high welfare, humane production practices. By addressing the challenges mentioned in this blog and capitalising on some of the opportunities, the continent can become a leader in sustainable and ethical aquaculture, having learnt from the mistakes of its counterparts elsewhere in the world and ‘got it right’ from the get-go. This is an approach we are trialling in Zanzibar through the development of an aquaculture strategy that will set the Tanzanian archipelago’s nascent finfish industry off on the right foot. Such approaches have the potential to not only benefit the environment and the economy but to also ensure that aquatic animals are farmed in a way that respects their well-being and recognises their ability to feel pain and to suffer. ESR looks forward to playing a central role in advocating for improved welfare practices in aquaculture as part of the continent’s ‘blue economy revolution’.
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