— Our Work / Policy Reform

Defining the next generation of global food systems through public policy and governance frameworks

A detailed image of a rainbow trout fish with a greenish and yellowish body, speckled with black spots, and a slightly open mouth.

Aquatic animal welfare remains one of the least addressed areas within global governance, particularly in discussions about ocean and environmental health, food systems, and sustainable development.

By focusing our efforts on high-leverage institutions and processes, including the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, and other emerging engagement spaces, our policy reform team aims to improve welfare protections for aquatic animals by influencing public policy and governance frameworks at national, regional, and international levels, across both fisheries and aquaculture.

Embedding Welfare into Laws and Governance Frameworks

Our work in policy reform includes two connected but distinct areas of focus:

Legal and Regulatory Reform

We pursue legislation, legally-binding statues, regulations, ordinances, and institutional recognition that strengthen protections for aquatic animals across food systems and governance structures.

Our team conducts legal research, engages with policymakers, drafts and submits proposed legislative and regulatory language, and provides expert testimonies to advocate for binding laws worldwide. These efforts are key to position aquatic animal welfare as a credible and actionable area of public policy.

➔ Explore one of the ways our team pursues legal and regulatory reform through our Octopus Farming Ban campaign

Framework and Guidelines Development

Our team works to ensure that aquatic animals are explicitly included in the key international policies and frameworks that shape global norms, guide best practices, and influence future governance. This includes UN declarations, FAO guidance, World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) standards, and NGO or industry frameworks.

These efforts lead to aquatic animal welfare language being included in influential non-binding instruments as part of broader commitments to sustainable food systems and environmental governance. 

Global policy forums, like the UN, carry immense signaling power. Our team works to establish aquatic animal welfare as a legitimate component of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) targets, and One Health objectives to influence international legal frameworks and drive widespread industry compliance, helping institutionalize higher welfare practices at scale.

➔ Read our Benefits of Aquatic Animal Welfare for the Sustainable Development Goals report

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See how our team shows up at high-impact global policy forums like the High-Level Political Forum, where we were selected for the role of Lead Discussant for SDG 14: Life Below Water.

Our intervention directly connected aquatic animal welfare to biodiversity, food security, livelihoods, and public health indicators. Notably, this was the only intervention introducing animal welfare into the official SDG 14 dialogue, helping shift welfare from an advocacy concept to a policy-relevant component of the 2030 Agenda.

A Focus on Fisheries

Our distinct approach to policy reform includes a focus on addressing welfare in wild-capture fisheries in addition to aquaculture facilities. Our team works to translate animal welfare science into practical interventions that can be applied at scale.

Fishing practices directly affect animal suffering and product quality. Every year, trillions of fishes and other aquatic animals are subjected to capture methods that can cause prolonged stress, injury, and asphyxiation. 

Our team is helping define what animal welfare in capture fisheries means in practice through strategic collaborations with industry stakeholders, scientific bodies, and international institutions and policy processes, such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and UN Ocean, establishing animal welfare as a pillar of ocean governance and fisheries management.

Cover page of the report titled 'Marine Capture Fisheries: Innovative Practices for Aquatic Animal Welfare,' published in March 2026 by the Aquatic Life Institute. The cover features the institute's logo, a stylized wave, and an image of a teal-colored fish.

Read our Marine Capture Fisheries: Innovative Practices for Aquatic Animal Welfare report

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Explore Report ➔

Progress in Practice

School of fish swimming underwater, with various sizes and colors, in blue ocean water.

Translating scientific evidence and welfare principles into concrete policy tools, guidance, and regulatory frameworks

Our work, including our publication on stunning and slaughter best practices, was cited in the European Commission’s Code of Good Practices on Fish Welfare and Fish Welfare Indicators (2025). This integration of our team’s expertise into EU-level guidance that informs both regulatory development and industry practices strengthens protections for aquatic animals by embedding welfare considerations into the systems that govern production, handling, and slaughter.

A fish swimming in greenish water.

Prioritizing aquatic animal welfare within decision-making processes

Our report Benefits of Aquatic Animal Welfare for the Sustainable Development Goals has been cited by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE-FSN) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in its report on Building Resilient Food Systems, marking a significant step in positioning welfare as relevant to resilience, food security, and sustainability debates.

Close-up of a fish with a sandy brown body, blue eyes, and long thin barbels near its mouth, underwater near a piece of wood or rock.

Welfare has traditionally been difficult to measure in wild-capture systems

By leading in initiatives like the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability's Animal Welfare Dialogues, ALI is working to define key data elements that allow welfare to be tracked, verified, and improved across supply chains. We are shaping how welfare becomes a measurable and actionable part of “responsible seafood.” This has been recognized by FAIRR.

Policy Coalitions, Memberships, and Affiliations

  • A stylized illustration of a fish inside a globe, with North and South America visible.

    Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST)

  • World Federation for Animals logo with a circular design and blue text.

    World Federation for Animals (WFA)

  • Logo for ICF AW International Coalition for Animal Welfare, with the text 'ICFAW' in large gray and red letters, and 'International Coalition for Animal Welfare' underneath.

    International Coalition for Animal Welfare (ICFAW)

  • Aquatic Animal Alliance logo

    International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Working Group on Aquatic Animal Welfare (WGAAW)

  • Logo of the Aquaculture Advisory Council featuring a fish, a coral branch, and five yellow stars.

    Aquaculture Advisory Council (AAC)

  • A logo for Long Distance Advisory Council featuring a stylized fish design made of blue circles with the text "LDAC" and "Long Distance Advisory Council" below.

    Long Distance Advisory Council (LDAC)

  • Pelagic Advisory Council logo featuring stylized fish icon and text.

    Co-Chair of Pelagic Advisory Council (PelAC)

  • Aquatic Animal Alliance logo

    UNESCO-IOC Ocean Literacy - The Blue Thread Initiative

  • A stylized blue swirl resembling a wave, surrounded by a circular color-coded scale with segments in red, green, yellow, black, and white.

    UN Ocean Decade (link endorsed action)

  • Aquatic Animal Alliance logo

    EU Blue Economy Observatory

  • Abstract logo with three overlapping teal circles of decreasing size on a white background.

    Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions (CASS)

  • Aquatic Animal Alliance logo

    Just Food Transition Network

  • Logo for Food & Climate Action Group with a stylized leaf graphic.

    Food & Climate Action Group

  • EUROGROUP FOR ANIMALS logo with text in blue and gray

    Eurogroup for Animals

  • Cure4Aqua logo with blue text and a globe with a medical cross and water splash.

    Cure4Aqua

  • Aquatic Animal Alliance logo

    Rise Up

Contact

A woman with long dark hair, smiling, wearing a white sleeveless top, standing outdoors in front of a background of plants.

Christine Xu

➔ Contact our Head of Global Seafood Systems Transformation to explore pilot projects, discuss welfare improvements in fisheries, learn about GDST digital traceability systems, or feature your tech or research in our annual innovative practices report.

A smiling woman with curly brown hair, wearing a navy sleeveless top and a gold necklace, outdoors on a sunny day.

Giulia Malerbi

➔ Contact our Head of Global Policy to collaborate on policy development, legislative initiatives, and strategic advocacy