Environmental enrichment in fish aquaculture: A review of fundamental and practical aspects
Environmental enrichment (EE) can improve the welfare of captive fish. Its objective is to provide new sensorial and motor stimulation in order to help meet their behavioural, physiological, morphological and psychological needs, whilst reducing stress and frequency of abnormal behaviours. In fis...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://umt-ir.umt.edu.my:8080/handle/123456789/21710 |
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| Summary: | Environmental enrichment (EE) can improve the welfare of captive fish. Its objective
is to provide new sensorial and motor stimulation in order to help meet their
behavioural, physiological, morphological and psychological needs, whilst reducing
stress and frequency of abnormal behaviours. In fish farms, rearing environments are
usually designed from a human perspective and based on economic requirements,
mainly for practical reasons for the farmer, with little consideration for animal welfare.
Throughout aquaculture production cycles, many farming operations can be stressful
for fish, and EE may not only help them cope with these stressful events but also
improve their overall welfare. In recent years, increasing interest on the effects of
EE in captive fish has focussed mainly on structural enrichment. However, there are
many other enrichment strategies that merit attention (e.g. sensorial, occupational,
social and dietary enrichment) and which may be of interest for fish farming. Here, we
review in depth the existing literature on EE and its effects on the welfare of a wide
range of farmed fish species, discussing the feasibility and potential applications of
different EE strategies to promote fish welfare at a commercial scale. We also present
a practical framework to address the design, validation and implementation of EE by
the aquaculture industry, taking in consideration the technical challenges of providing
enrichment for farmed fish. |
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