Week 1: Scope Sensitivity & Fish Welfare
“Farmed fish welfare is plausibly one of the effective animal advocacy community’s priorities because of the current neglectedness of the issue, the likelihood that farmed fish suffering is large in scale, and the potential tractability of interventions to improve farmed fish welfare.”
-Animal Charity Evaluators Farmed Fish Welfare Report
-
This reading makes the case for prioritizing fish in farmed animal welfare.
-
Link
Offers an overview of the emerging fish welfare movement, including some trends in science/policy and a few of the leading orgs in the field.
-
The future may hold many more animals than exist today, so it’s very important to consider where things are heading with respect to animal welfare, including emerging technologies and global trends. This reading explains the nascent industry of off-earth aquaculture, which could become increasingly relevant as humanity spreads beyond Earth.
-
Link
This reading represents a flagship example of casual fish cruelty, exemplifying the status quo in which the average consumer doesn’t even perceive fish suffering as a moral problem or possibility.
-
This reading exemplifies the complexity of interventions, illustrating the importance of building robust world models and reacting to new evidence. It explains Anima’s decision to end a carp welfare campaign when it realized consumers were replacing carp with farmed salmon (which are carnivorous), likely leading to a higher global net fish consumption.
-
Recommended
A fun, visual list of surprising fish behaviors and capabilities. Aims to help readers appreciate the diversity, intelligence, and sentience of fish.
Organizations working on Fish Welfare
Further Readings
