Aquatic Life Institute now sees animal welfare as a core issue for food system reform, not just a secondary concern.

Aquatic Life Institute Details New Strategy for Animal Welfare in Seafood Production

UNITED STATES
Monday, August 11, 2025, 00:10 (GMT + 9)

Half-Year Report Highlights Progress in Science, Policy, and Corporate Reform

— The Aquatic Life Institute (ALI) has unveiled its 2025 Half-Year Report, detailing a new strategic direction focused on transforming the global food system through improved aquatic animal welfare. The organization's approach is based on three interconnected stages of influence: Recognition, Protection, and Prioritization.

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The report highlights significant progress in the first half of the year, particularly in raising the global profile of aquatic animal welfare. A landmark review article published by ALI's research team, "Harmonizing Animal Health and Welfare in Modern Aquaculture," has garnered significant attention. The publication achieved an Altmetric Attention Score of 18, placing it in the top 10% of all research outputs tracked by Altmetric, and was the highest-scoring article in its journal, Fishes, in its publishing window. This research has been instrumental in positioning animal welfare not as a niche concern but as a key component of sustainable aquaculture. The report's findings have reached an estimated audience of more than 736,000 people through media coverage.

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ALI has also reported a major success in the "Protection" stage with the launch of the Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s (ASC) revised Farm Standard in May 2025. After five years of advocacy, ALI's contributions to the revision process helped position animal welfare as a core pillar of responsible aquaculture certification worldwide. A key achievement was the removal of a "controversial stress test" from ASC requirements in 2024 due to ALI’s coordinated efforts. The updated standard is expected to impact an estimated 45.3 billion individual aquatic animals annually.

The organization has also been successful in its corporate and policy reform efforts. It has partnered with companies like Co-op and Hilton, which have committed to new crustacean welfare policies, including the elimination of eyestalk ablation and the use of electrical stunning. In the legislative sphere, the "Ban Octopus Farming Campaign" has seen success with new laws passed in Washington and California that ban commercial octopus farming or the sale of farm-raised octopus products.

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Looking ahead, ALI is preparing for the release of its 2025 Aquaculture Certification Schemes Benchmark and will continue its engagement with the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) to embed animal welfare into traceability frameworks. The organization's work is described as translating "recognition into protection and protection into prioritization" to ensure welfare is integrated into the structures of seafood production.

View the Aquatic LIfe Institute 2025 Half-Year Report

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