Researchers at the University of Trento in Italy conducted a study to find out if a particular species of fish, the redtail splitfin, saw the Ebbinghaus illusion in the same way that we do. 

Aquatic animals are some of the most mistreated and misunderstood animals on earth. Until recently, virtually no attention was paid to the welfare of aquatic animals. ALI is working to change this, both in terms of public perceptions of fish sentience as well as industry standards for how fish are treated. 

In 2024, nearly two million salmon will be produced each year on an intensive aquaculture farm in Pas-de-Calais. Accidents in such structures have already caused the death of several hundred thousand fish. Such breeding - and their corollary, an excessively high density of animals - raise important ethical questions.

As the last blog post of 2020, we’d like to share our top stories for aquatic animal welfare from this year. In only a short few months, we have seen tremendous progress in this nascent movement, a testament to the foundational path that the Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) has been paving behind the scenes since its founding in mid-2019. Here are some highlights.  

Fisheries in the region operate under a quota, but the system is not sufficiently responsive to annual changes in condition, such as increasingly warming temperatures, which can leave krill in short supply, Mr Kirby said. 

Here are a few of the incredible photographs from this years Nature Photographer of the Year 2020 competition. The winners and runners-up were announced at the Nature Talks photo festival in the Netherlands.

While this end of the year is crucial for the orientation of fish farming with the establishment of an operational program and a sector plan for the coming years, around twenty associations and around fifty personalities are pleading for better consideration of animal welfare and recall the challenges of fish farming in this area.

Scientific work seems to show that a stimulating environment has a positive effect on the well-being of the animals because it allows the expression of natural behaviours, cognitive development and seems to reduce stress.

The Conservation Project International launches Vaquita Hacks, the first international hackathon designed to save the vaquita from extinction. 

The leaders of the 14 countries set out a series of commitments on Wednesday that mark the world’s biggest ocean sustainability initiative, in the absence of a fully fledged UN treaty on marine life.

We believe collaborative work as a coalition has the potential to be much more effective and impactful than multiple individual efforts by various animal protection organizations. We fear that if multiple organizations ask certifiers, labeling regimes and producers for many different standards, the effect may be that the lowest ask is what gets enshrined in the standards.

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

More than $22 billion of harmful 'capacity building' fishing subsidies contribute to overfishing, and lead to the loss of livelihoods and income for coastal communities. They have also been linked to Illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing activity.

COVID-19 is not the only pandemic in the world today. At present there are dozens of active panzootics — animal pandemics — running rampant in farms around the world. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in farmed aquatic animal populations, who are not provided with the biosecurity measures deemed essential for preventing the emergence of novel diseases in other farming systems. 

Every year, approximately two to three *trillion* aquatic animals are killed in the wild and 100 billion are farmed. Yet, at a global scale, there is a major gap in aquatic animal welfare considerations because the concept of what constitutes “humane fish” or “high welfare seafood product” remains a blank canvas. The Aquatic Life Institute is leading the effort to change this.

There’s so many inspiring photographers documenting the beauty and plight of the ocean. We decided to make a list of some favorites that are focusing on conservation and education.

These films offer an insight into the reality of the oceans and the fish that live there focusing on various ways we can support marine animals.

The 8th of October marked the fifth annual 'World Salmon Day'. This holiday was proposed by the food brand 'Chicken of the Sea' in 2015 to highlight the dietary benefits of the popular fish, in the hope that it would lead to "a long-term increase in [the public's] heart and nutritional health.”