Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of land-based fish farms which use indoor tanks instead of ocean- or lake-based pens on animal welfare.

Current legislation already provides protection for farmed fish kept for the production of meat or other products whilst on farm. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to any protected animal, including fish, or to fail to provide for the welfare needs of a protected animal, for which that person is responsible. The Farm Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish was also published in 2014.

The potential impact of land-based recirculating aquaculture systems on fish welfare is an issue we are considering.