News

New blog post!

>> Fish and Emotions: Time to Rethink Aquatic Welfare

💡 When we talk about animal welfare, we often focus on reducing negative states like pain and fear. But what about positive emotions? In the latest post from our "The Fish Mind" section on the ConsCIÊNCIA Animal blog, we explore a less discussed but essential topic: how fish experience not only suffering, but also positive affective states such as motivation responses.

🎓 Scientific evidence continues to grow: fish can feel pain, fear, anxiety — but also positive affective states. This changes how we think about their environments in captivity, care practices, and ethical treatment. Promoting positive welfare isn’t just a goal — it’s a responsibility grounded in science.

>>If you are interested, read our full post on the blog here.

(posted on 2025/06/30)

XXII Congress of the Portuguese Ethological Society

Who we are


Who we are

We are a non-profit association bridging the gaps between science and the stakeholders in the aquaculture sector: producers, certifiers, retailers, NGOs, policy makers and consumers. Our goal is to study and improve the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals by applying ethological scientific knowledge into best practices in fish farming.


What we stand for


What we stand for

Throughout the years, our team has been involved in many areas of the aquaculture sector, from scientific research to campaigning, from auditing to policy. We use that expertise to promote the welfare of fishes through many initiatives with our partners and collaborators.


What we do


What we do

We develop science-based solutions to assess and improve the welfare of captive and wild-caught fishes. In our approach, we apply a strong background in aquaculture and ethology to address the welfare of fishes. We use state-of-the-art knowledge on the behaviour of a species to understand how its welfare is affected under farming conditions and what we can do to promote it.


Need help?

If you are interested in scientific and technical expertise applied to welfare in fish farming, please contact us.

We develop custom-made welfare solutions for your initiatives, as consultancy in farms or other facilities, tailored courses, guidance, certification requirements or systems, specific research studies and welfare protocols (see What we do).

Questions? Suggestions? Drop us a line!
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