Fish Welfare at WCFAW 2025: Strengthening Collaboration in China

As part of our commitment to strengthening knowledge exchange between China and the global fish welfare community, Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) co-sponsored the Aquatic Animal Welfare Forum with the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare (ICCAW) on October 31, 2025. This event, held in Beijing’s Pinggu District, was part of the broader World Conference on Farm Animal Welfare (WCFAW), a gathering that has become a key event for advancing farm animal welfare discussions in China. We also supported this forum in 2024.

Opening day of the WCFAW 2025.

This year marked a milestone for FWI: we’ve resumed work with Chinese partners and now have two full-time staff based in the country. Aijun, our China Representative, joined in April 2025, and Ryan, our China Project Manager, transitioned to a full-time role in July after several months in a part-time capacity. Together, they are helping us deepen relationships with local institutions and explore scalable, evidence-based welfare improvements.

Forum Theme and Purpose

This year’s forum, themed “A New Leverage Point for Driving Sustainable Transformation in the Aquatic Industry,” was co-organized by ICCAW, FWI, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the Catch Welfare Platform, and the Ocean University of China. The event convened researchers, industry leaders, and NGO representatives from China and beyond to share emerging insights and foster collaboration across sectors.

Ryan hosted the first half of the forum, and Aijun closed the event with a short talk emphasizing the importance of applied research tailored to the Chinese context, stronger coordination between scientific institutions and the aquaculture industry, and practical welfare standards that producers can adopt at scale.

FWI staffer Aijun delivering the closing remarks at the Aquatic Animal Welfare Forum.

This framing reflects our broader strategy in China: to generate high-quality evidence for welfare improvements, build strong local partnerships, and strengthen coordination between different stakeholders in the country. 

Highlights from the Forum

Speakers presented on a wide range of topics across aquaculture and capture fisheries, including:

• Environmental and husbandry conditions: Effects of stocking density, water quality, noise, and lighting on fishes’ health and growth.

  
  

• Nutrition and feeding practices: How balanced diets and science-based feeding rhythms may help reduce stress.

  
  

• Capture-fish welfare: Comparisons of gear types and handling methods, including research on ice-slurry stunning to minimize suffering.

  
  

• Technology in deep-sea farming: Case studies on using sensors and automation to support environmental monitoring and welfare outcomes.

  
  

The forum featured experts from leading institutions, including Ocean University of China, Wageningen University, RSPCA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) in Portugal.

Aquatic Animal Welfare Forum program at WCFAW 2025.

The broader WCFAW conference drew around 700 in-person participants, with coverage from over 200 national media outlets. The aquatic welfare forum itself had approximately 45 in-person attendees. It was also livestreamed seeing a total of around 3,400 online viewers, peaking at 466 concurrent viewers.

Looking Ahead

We are grateful to ICCAW for their continued partnership and for co-hosting this forum. Engaging in forums like this is a key part of our field-building efforts in China, creating opportunities for experts to connect and helping accelerate practical improvements in fish welfare. We look forward to continuing to work with local partners in China to support scientific research, share best practices, and strengthen knowledge exchange.