We now have over 100 fish farms actively engaging with us to improve the welfare of their fishes! Read on to learn how these farmers help their fishes and where our farmer-centric work is headed next.
Committed to Welfare
The farms we’re celebrating are active members of the Alliance for Responsible Aquaculture (ARA) and committed to improving the welfare of their fishes. As part of the ARA, farmers execute corrective actions if the farm's water quality lies outside our required ranges. It is through the implementation of our suggestions that we help fishes.
Narasimha’s Efforts to Help His Fishes
Narasimha, a fish farmer in Kolleru, India, is an excellent example of how our farmer partnerships help fishes. Narasimha joined the ARA in December 2022 and, per our guidance, reduced his stocking density by a total of 5,000 fishes. This meant more living space and the potential for improved water quality for the remaining fishes.
On a recent visit to Narasimha’s farm, we measured very low dissolved oxygen levels in the morning. Further investigating his water quality, we also measured high turbidity (i.e., suspended particles in the farm water).
Both measurements were cause for intervention. Low turbidity and dissolved oxygen indicate high phytoplankton levels, thus depleting the water's available oxygen. As a result, fishes have difficulty breathing, a scenario similar to us being in a room with a lot of smoke. To improve the fishes’ environment, our ground team guided Narasimha to stop feeding the fishes for 48 hours, to allow the plankton population to stabilize.
We revisited the farm three days later, and found that dissolved oxygen levels had improved to the required level. Turbidity levels had also improved but were still too high. Our ground team assumed that the plankton population in the water was excessive and thus suggested Narasimha add fresh water to his farm to further diffuse the plankton.
We assessed the farm's water quality after he added new water, and turbidity had decreased to the required level. Over the following months, we followed up with Narasimha and found that all water quality parameters remained in the required range, thus providing better living conditions for the fishes.
Data Collector Sanjay and ARA farmer Narasimha at his pond in the West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India.
The improvements in Narasimha's farm demonstrate how strong collaborative relationships with our ARA farmers are the basis of our work and the outcome of our staff’s continuous efforts to empower farmers and thus help fishes.
What’s Next?
In 2024, we’re planning to add another 100 farms to the ARA (see FWI’s annual goals). We are also working on various strategic improvements to our overall programming, which we will publish shortly. These changes will focus on catching more water quality issues to ultimately help more fish. We will also test improved water quality measurement methods to enhance the accuracy of our data and decision-making.
Our expectation and hope is that these improvements will help us help fishes more efficiently, frequently, and sustainably.
Want to help us reduce the suffering of fishes, or share your thoughts on our work? Check out our careers page, or contact us.