Fish Welfare in Aquaculture: Physiological and Immunological Activities for Diets, Social and Spatial Stress on Mediterranean Aqua Cultured Species

Abstract

Welfare assessment currently is less well-characterized for aquatic animals and the clas- sical methodologies used for terrestrial animals are not adequate to improve our knowledge about fish well-being. Among different approaches, the status of organism responses can be carried out using different physiological and biochemical tools. Here, we present the state of the art regarding fish welfare, methodologies, and experimental results with a particular focus on two important Mediterranean aquaculture species, Sparus aurata and Dicentrarchus labrax. We introduce an approach using physiological stress-indicators, growth performance and swimming activity to investigate the effects of the implantation of electronic tags to facilitate the application of telemetry for aquaculture purposes. The application of telemetry to research on aquatic organisms has expanded recently, and its utilization needs to be better understood. The mentioned approaches have been discussed for application in different aquaculture methodologies. Moreover, social stress and territoriality are relevant factors in the evaluation of gregarious species that may have consequences on the conditions of animals farmed in captivity. These aspects, that may impair the ability of fish to respond to various stimuli or negatively influence the flesh quality, here are analysed through behavioural observation, flanked by the physiological and immunological approach.