Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture
This study aimed to map the current status of farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) vis-à-vis animal welfare in the Egyptian tilapia farming sector. To this end, a survey was conducted of tilapia farmers across different regions, examining their level of training and knowledge as...
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| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Aquaculture Reports |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513424006823 |
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| author | Charlotte Flores Christopher Bryant Mohamed Bakr Wasseem Emam |
| author_facet | Charlotte Flores Christopher Bryant Mohamed Bakr Wasseem Emam |
| author_sort | Charlotte Flores |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aimed to map the current status of farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) vis-à-vis animal welfare in the Egyptian tilapia farming sector. To this end, a survey was conducted of tilapia farmers across different regions, examining their level of training and knowledge as well as their farming practices including feeding, water changes and biosecurity measures.We found that just 11 % of the surveyed tilapia farmers had received any sort of training on the importance of animal welfare whilst 76 % said they could benefit from such training. Farmers perceived maintaining good water quality as the most important metric for achieving good tilapia welfare. However, they were significantly less willing and able to intervene on this factor compared to other factors such as changing feeding practices, minimising handling, and carrying out veterinary checks.In addition, we found evidence of better production outcomes for farmers that had received welfare training, with significantly fewer of them reporting high mortality rates and significantly lower reported frequency of poor growth. Most farmers expected the Egyptian tilapia production sector to continue to grow and intensify. This survey identified a need for establishing minimum animal welfare standards in Egyptian tilapia farming either through regulators or certification schemes. There is also a clear need for establishing training programmes that cover animal health and welfare aspects in aquaculture. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-04d00f61f230480bbabda7eea00c10e1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2352-5134 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aquaculture Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-04d00f61f230480bbabda7eea00c10e12025-02-11T04:35:02ZengElsevierAquaculture Reports2352-51342025-04-0141102594Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia cultureCharlotte Flores0Christopher Bryant1Mohamed Bakr2Wasseem Emam3Bryant Research, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, UKBryant Research, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, United KingdomEthical Seafood Research, 20-23 Woodside Place, Glasgow G3 7QL, UK; Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, 33516, EgyptEthical Seafood Research, 20-23 Woodside Place, Glasgow G3 7QL, UK; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Av. Puerta de Hierro, s/n, Moncloa - Aravaca, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Pathfoot Building, Stirling FK9 4LA, United Kingdom; Correspondence to: Ethical Seafood Research, 20-23 Woodside Place, G3 7QL Glasgow, UK.This study aimed to map the current status of farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) vis-à-vis animal welfare in the Egyptian tilapia farming sector. To this end, a survey was conducted of tilapia farmers across different regions, examining their level of training and knowledge as well as their farming practices including feeding, water changes and biosecurity measures.We found that just 11 % of the surveyed tilapia farmers had received any sort of training on the importance of animal welfare whilst 76 % said they could benefit from such training. Farmers perceived maintaining good water quality as the most important metric for achieving good tilapia welfare. However, they were significantly less willing and able to intervene on this factor compared to other factors such as changing feeding practices, minimising handling, and carrying out veterinary checks.In addition, we found evidence of better production outcomes for farmers that had received welfare training, with significantly fewer of them reporting high mortality rates and significantly lower reported frequency of poor growth. Most farmers expected the Egyptian tilapia production sector to continue to grow and intensify. This survey identified a need for establishing minimum animal welfare standards in Egyptian tilapia farming either through regulators or certification schemes. There is also a clear need for establishing training programmes that cover animal health and welfare aspects in aquaculture.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513424006823SustainabilityAquacultureAnimal welfareKnowledge, attitudes and practicesFood securityWater quality |
| spellingShingle | Charlotte Flores Christopher Bryant Mohamed Bakr Wasseem Emam Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture Aquaculture Reports Sustainability Aquaculture Animal welfare Knowledge, attitudes and practices Food security Water quality |
| title | Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture |
| title_full | Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture |
| title_fullStr | Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture |
| title_short | Farmed fish welfare in Egypt: Surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture |
| title_sort | farmed fish welfare in egypt surveying current practices and future directions for tilapia culture |
| topic | Sustainability Aquaculture Animal welfare Knowledge, attitudes and practices Food security Water quality |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513424006823 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT charlotteflores farmedfishwelfareinegyptsurveyingcurrentpracticesandfuturedirectionsfortilapiaculture AT christopherbryant farmedfishwelfareinegyptsurveyingcurrentpracticesandfuturedirectionsfortilapiaculture AT mohamedbakr farmedfishwelfareinegyptsurveyingcurrentpracticesandfuturedirectionsfortilapiaculture AT wasseememam farmedfishwelfareinegyptsurveyingcurrentpracticesandfuturedirectionsfortilapiaculture |