Seriola lalandi

WelfareScore | farm

Li4  ❘  Po4  ❘  Ce4

Likelihood

Potential

Certainty

Seriola lalandi is a highly valuable species for aquaculture but only superficially studied. It has been under strong focus from the industry, but some welfare issues arise in current farming conditions. It is a long distance ocean cruiser that migrates and requires more space than that offered by present methods to fulfil its swimming needs. Usual net cages do not provide enough depth for its natural range, although some farmers do use 50 m deep cages that are within values found in the wild. Aggression occurs in the wild and may be of concern in farms, as well as the amount of fish meal and fish oil used in feeds. Further research is needed on rates of malformations in the wild and on how this species responds to stressful conditions from aquaculture procedures.