Special Session 5

Unlike the other farmed animal species, it is only in very recent times that the problem of fish welfare has become of significant research and public interest. Even until a few decades ago, fish were considered non sentient animals. The development of aquaculture and the spread of different rearing techniques has brought to light the importance of proper animal management in order to contain stress at different stages of rearing. The number of species reared, the fact that they live in water, and the complex and diverse biology make it very difficult to study the welfare and health conditions of the animals through methodologies that are not themselves responsible for stress and suffering for the animals.

Prof. Giuliana Parisi
Full Professor at the Agricultural School of University of Florence, Department of Agriculture Food Environment of Forestry. Her research activity is documented by more than 400 papers published as scientific papers in national or international scientific journals (n. 141 indexed on Scopus; H index =31, 3191 citations), as short or long abstracts in Proceedings of national and international congresses, or as chapters of books. She is Associate Editor of Italian Journal of Animal Science, member of the Editorial Board of the following Scientific Journal: Aquaculture Journal, Water, Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development. Member of the Associazione per la Scienza e le Produzioni Animali, Italian representative in WEFTA (West European Fish Technologist Association). One of the main topics of her research activity is fish welfare, ethical aspects regarding fish farming and relationships between fish welfare and quality of the final product.

Dr. João L. Saraiva
João Saraiva is a fish ethologist with a special interest in welfare. He is currently leading the Fish Ethology and Welfare Group at the Centre of Marine Sciences in Faro, Portugal and is the president and founder of the FishEthoGroup Association. With a research background on behaviour and communication in teleosts, João now focuses on the application of fundamental science to improve the welfare of fishes, both in aquaculture and in fisheries. He is the author of over 50 scientific publications and co-editor of a book on the topic of fish welfare. The team lead by João has an extensive record of achievements in research, training, dissemination and consultancy. He is an invited assistant professor of Ethology at the University of Algarve, and also works as a consultant for the European Commission, certification bodies and other private stakeholders.