News from fair-fish: May 2023

I am very pleased to present the Summer Shoal Edition 2023 and the progress on two of our most important projects.

Summer Shoal 2023 is coming...

Outdoors near the beach: a unique exchange among expert with different backgrounds and interests

fair-fish and its partners proudly present the 5^th edition of the Summer Shoal. The topic of "fish welfare" is highly relevant. This is the time for stakeholders to meet, dialogue, evaluate findings, and develop solutions for the welfare of fishes.

The 2023 edition of the Summer Shoal will take place between September 12 and 15, again in the Algarve in southern Portugal, in the lovely small resort of Pedras d’el Rei at the Atlantic coast. The registration deadline is June 30 (first come, first serve). Please find here more information about the Summer Shoal 2023.

Project Carefish/catch releases first study

Concrete measures to reduce animal suffering were defined in a recently published report about gill nets and trammel nets

The Carefish/catch project is investigating the question of animal welfare in fishing. The recently published report reveals insights into the suffering of fishes while being caught at sea – with specific measures to reduce it. The focus of this work is on temporary bottom set nets which are a static fishing method where the gear hangs from buoys which keep the nets suspended in the water and staked to the bottom. The Carefish/catch project partners request policy, certification, industry, and retail to take the advice to reduce fish suffering seriously and help implement welfare standards into fisheries.

You can download the published report here .

Turning old into new

Thanks to more recent sources, the fish welfare potential of the Gilthead seabream has improved. However, it still does not really feel comfortable in industrial farming

Our fair-fish database determines how well fishes potentially feel in aquaculture. It has been existing for 10 years. Not just the database has constantly evolved, but also new studies were published since then. Last year we started updating the oldest fish profiles to check whether the situation in aquaculture has changed for these species in the meantime. The first species we thoroughly revised are European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).

We were proud to apply the new knowledge gained during the update to a report from the Aquaculture Advisory Panel for the EU.

I have now completely taken over the management from Billo Heinzpeter Studer and look forward to the dialogue with you. Furthermore, since our president had to resign for health reasons, we are looking for a new president of the board of the fair-fish association. If you are interested in the role and the role profile, please contact me.

Best wishes,
Fausta Borsani, Executive Director