Knowledge of, and Attitudes towards, Live Fish Transport among Aquaculture Industry Stakeholders in China: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

China is the largest food fish producer in the world. Chinese consumers normally purchase fish that are still alive to ensure freshness. Therefore, the live transport of fish is important in China’s aquaculture, although it carries potential risks for animal welfare. This study investigated the attitudes and knowledge of stakeholders within Chinese aquaculture towards the live transport and welfare of fish. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants who were involved with the aquaculture industry in China. Most participants self-rated their transport-related knowledge as moderate and had some understanding of animal welfare, although this term was generally considered only relevant to terrestrial animals. Participants’ responses indicated that the live transport of fish occurs frequently in China, generally using sealed tanks, plastic bags, and foam boxes, in purpose-built vehicles. Seasonal changes, such as changes in ambient and water temperature, are considered to be important contributors to successful live transport, as well as sufficient oxygen supplies and stocking density. The use of anesthetics was not commonly reported, particularly in food fish, and fish capture is predominantly by conventional dipnets. The health status of transported fish is determined mostly by morphology (body injury, body or eye color, and fin condition), as well as vigor and swimming ability. Our results indicate that live transport poses a number of welfare risks to fish but that participants in the process associated welfare concerns more with terrestrial animals, not fish.

Use of “demonstration farm” videos to affect attitude change toward animal welfare on beef, egg, and fish farms in China

“…By and large, demo farm products were expected to be more expensive than from participants’ farms; however, higher education of any kind lowered support for this assertion. This somewhat contradicts other findings from China showing educational levels generally correlate positively with income (Su and Heshmati, 2013), and people with a higher income have been found to be less sensitive to pricing (Choi, 2016; Wakefield and Inman, 2003) and more concerned about animal welfare (You et al, 2014). Despite the perceived product expense, this did not translate into perceived product quality, with less than half of participants believing the product quality would be better than their own farms.…”

“…This may be a reflection of confidence/knowledge of their own products or they may be less convinced that farming approaches and animal welfare standards impact product quality, although previous surveys in China have suggested strong perceived links in the general public between animal welfare and product quality/safety (Carnovale et al, 2022; Liang et al, 2022). Participants with higher education may have more knowledge about the relationship between animal welfare and product quality (You et al, 2014); however, in this study, university graduates were not significantly different from school-educated participants and only participants with technical college backgrounds rated product quality more highly.…”

“…A recent survey of broiler farmers in China found most were aware of the importance of animal welfare and more than one-third were willing to improve welfare on their farms (Jo et al, 2022), with similar results found across other industries (Chen et al, 2021). Consideration for the welfare of fish in China is also increasing but is not yet as strong as for terrestrial animals (Yang et al, 2021).…”

“…Participant attitudes toward animals were largely positive. It was expected that participants with a higher level of education would further support attitudes toward animal welfare due to a higher knowledge on animal care and management (You et al, 2014). This expectation was partially supported as participants with a technical college education, but not university graduates, placed more importance on welfare than school-educated participants, and a greater intention to improve welfare on their own farm.…”

“Cattle Welfare Is Basically Human Welfare”: Workers' Perceptions of ‘Animal Welfare' on Two Dairies in China

“…Yang et al ( 46 ) found that Chinese fish stakeholders were also familiar with the term ‘animal welfare,' although some felt that this concept referred more to terrestrial animals, and dissimilarities between fish and humans made fish welfare less of a concern [see also Miralles et al ( 47 )]. In contrast, workers in this study described a variety of factors important to cattle, including physical and mental health, natural living, environmental conditions, and the caregivers involved.…”