Scotland aquaculture experts granted £2m to improve fish welfare in Asia
Second tranche of funding from US organisation will finance expanded three-year programme and pay for six students to study at University of Stirling
The University of Stirling's Institute of Aquaculture (IoA) has secured approximately £2 million in funding for a project aimed at improving the welfare of farmed fish in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
The IoA has been awarded US $2.7m for the three-year project from US-based Open Philanthropy, a grant-making organisation primarily funded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.
The project builds on a previous Open Philanthropy-funded scheme which focused on improving the welfare of farmed fish in Thailand and Vietnam, by further expanding its reach to include Indonesia and promoting development of the Asia Fish Welfare Network.
Previous work concentrated on improving the knowledge and interest of stakeholders throughout farmed fish value chains in countries where it is an important part of the diet and there are some of the largest concentrations of farmed fish and shellfish in the world.
Serious welfare issues
The project will be led by the IoA’s deputy head, Professor Dave Little.
“Across Asia there are serious welfare issues that affect millions of aquatic animals and there is an urgent need to drive change. In addition, there is very little awareness about the importance of improving the situation, and we believe that projects such as this can help to change that,” said Little.
“Understanding consumer and other stakeholders’ perceptions is critical to improving practices throughout the value chain, by identifying and targeting areas that could improve welfare the most. In the first project, we identified harvest through to slaughter as being critical points where practice could most effectively be improved.
“We hope that this significant research funding will help to build on our work to date that is focused on improving aquatic animal welfare, and its role as an ethical food choice, while also being of economic importance to the countries.”
Important groundwork
Michelle Lavery, programme associate for farm animal welfare at Open Philanthropy, said: “We've supported the University of Stirling’s work on farmed fish welfare in southeast Asia for the past three years and we're excited to see what the next phase of their work brings.
Full funding for six students
The Open Philanthropy funding will also support six Masters students from Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia to take a fully funded course at the IoA, harnessing and growing the potential of local talent to continue work in this area into the future.
The formal application process is free of charge and involves no commitment until after a funding decision has been made, with applicants invited to study MSc Sustainable Aquaculture, MSc Aquatic Pathobiology, or MSc Aquatic Veterinary Studies at the Institute of Aquaculture during the academic year 2025-26 or 2026-27.
Potential applicants can find out more and apply for one of the studentships on their preferred course as soon as possible via Sustainable Aquaculture Stirling | Welfare Studentships.
“The team has prioritised building and supporting local fish welfare research communities in Thailand and Vietnam, and has partnered with industry and policymakers to maximise the chances that the fish welfare improvements resulting from their work are taken up sustainably. This kind of field-building and industry-facing groundwork is important for fish welfare now and into the future.”
The new grant will be used to manage research studies on areas that impact fish welfare – from practical and biological aspects to social and economic factors.
Outreach activities
Workshops and outreach activities involving academics and practitioners working in aquaculture will also be developed, and there will be an expansion of exchange and mentorship programmes to build networks and institutional capacity.
Little will work on the project alongside Dr Simão Zacarias as project and research coordinator and John Bostock, who will provide support with communications and educational material.
Zacarias won the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s annual innovation award in 2020 for his work focused on the common and contentious shrimp-hatchery practice of ablating (removing or destroying) one of the shrimp’s two eye stalks.
His research debunked the notion that the practice results in higher egg production and showed that it actually escalates disease vulnerability.
