Fish welfare

Subject: Fish welfare

Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing recognised that ‘separate standards should be established on the protection of fish at killing’ and that ‘there is a need for further scientific opinion and economic evaluation in this field’. Consequently, the regulation called for ‘a report on the possibility of introducing certain requirements regarding the protection of fish at the time of killing’.

This study has recently been published. The economic analysis demonstrates that meeting international standards is either beneficial or affordable for most of the sectors examined. This analysis, however, assumes that every farm will have to purchase abattoir equipment. The study fails to reflect the highly consolidated nature of the aquaculture sector, or the reality in sectors where high slaughter standards are already practised, which is that each abattoir facility services many farms. The true profitability gains are therefore higher than reflected in the study and in other cases the true costs are even lower.

What actions will the Commission take to understand the economic consequences of meeting international standards for killing fish?

Answer given by Mr Andriukaitis on behalf of the Commission

(27 April 2018)

The scope of the study on welfare of farmed fish (1) focused on the EU Member States and countries of the European Economic Area that are considered to be the main aquaculture producers.

The study also collected and analysed data from non-EU key aquaculture producer countries including Canada, Chile, China and Turkey.

The Commission considers that the study reflects the most solid available economic data on this matter. While it remains interested in receiving any complementary data, at this stage the Commission believes that the study provides an accurate picture of the situation.

Following the completion of this study, the Commission has adopted a report to the European Parliament and Council on the possibility of introducing certain requirements regarding the protection of fish at the time of killin g (2). The report concludes that at this stage it is not appropriate to propose specific requirements on the protection of fish at the time of killing.

The Commission considers that the Member States have sufficient technical (World Organisation for Animal Health standard s (3)) and scientific information (European Food Safety Authority opinions and other (4)) to develop their own rules and instructions reflecting their national context if deemed necessary.

⋅1∙ Commission study on the welfare of farmed fish: common practices during transport and at slaughter: https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-

detail/-/publication/facddd32-cda6-11e7-a5d5-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-49981830 ⋅2∙ COM/2018/087 final: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1520499398416&uri=COM:2018:87:FIN ⋅3∙ http://www.oie.int/fr/

⋅4∙ https://www.efsa.europa.eu/