Fish welfare, ethics, quality and added value in coastal fisheries.

EthiCatch will identify how the use of various types of commercial fishing gear affect the physiology and mortality of cod and thus their welfare and quality. We will also be investigating the links between ethical fishing, quality and price.?The Norwegian Animal Welfare Act states that ?animals shall not suffer unnecessarily?, but what does this mean for the fishing industry??Previous trials conducted by?Nofima?show that it is possible to engage in more gentle fishing practices, but also that this is conditional on catches being smaller than the quantities that are regarded as being economically viable.?In this project we will therefore investigate if more ?humane? methods of catching fish would give fishermen better prices for their fish. We will also relate the quality of catches to ethical issues such as fish welfare and sustainability in the form of the best possible utilisation of limited marine resources.??We will also investigate if it is possible to improve the welfare and quality of cod during catch and thus increase the opportunities in processing for a higher share of valuable Products and lead to less food waste.?This would help to strengthen the white fish industry and improve the economic aspects of the entire value chain. EthiCatch is a multidisciplinary project and we will compare the results of field trials,?laboratory experiments, cost/benefit analysis and interviews with managers. Overall the project will provide new knowledge about how fish experience coastal fishing today, and how profitable it is to engage in ethically responsible fishing activities.?Results will be communicated to coastal fishermen, processing industry, the authorities and other researchers, but also the general public and help to bring a knowledge-based debate about the use of our common fishing resources.?This three-year project is being led by?Nofima and and is being undertaken in cooperation with the University of Tromsø and the Norwegian Veterinary Institute.

Ethical capture of fish is an emotive topic with multiple interest group ranging from fishermen, sales organization, NGOs and individual consumers. The relations between gear, fish and context variables provide options to reduce pain, injuries and mortality in commercial fisheries. However, it should require analysis of potential trade-offs between welfare, ecological and economic consequences. From an animal welfare perspective, it is important to address the methods used for harvesting and killing the fish in fisheries today. Systematic quality registrations by Nofima over the last 15 years, reveals that the quality of landed fish from the coastal fisheries is going down. It is important to find the ultimate fishing gear, fishing practice, handling and slaughtering methods to ensure that the strain fish experience during capture is minimized. At the same time the fishery must be kept operational and effective, without compromising the welfare and quality of the fish. WP 1 will form a snapshot of how commercial fishing gears affect the stress physiology and survival of Atlantic cod. WP 2 will simulate fishery experimentally in laboratory conditions to get a more profound understanding of how the fish experience the capture processes, based on physiological and behavioural measurements. The results from WP1 and 2 will give indications of the welfare of fish in these different fishing gears and WP 3 aims to see if there is a link between the welfare and the quality of Atlantic cod, measured by residual blood, downgrading, product yield and shelf life. The concept of creating value by improving fish welfare will be explored in WP 4. If it turns out that by increasing the welfare of Atlantic cod during capture, it is also possible to improve quality and reduce waste, is it then ethically sound to continue using the same fishing practice as before? These questions, based on the results from WP 1-3, will be analyzed and discussed in WP 4. WP5 will focus on communication