Measuring fish welfare in smallholder aquaculture: development and application of a welfare practice index in southern Nigeria
Format of work:
Journal Article
Event presented at / Journal Name:
International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies
Speaker / Contact Author's Name:
Felix Onyeka Nwose
Speaker / Contact Author's E-mail Address:
felixnwose@gmail.com
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Research aim:
This study aimed to develop and apply a practical Welfare Practice Index to assess fish welfare in smallholder aquaculture systems in southern Nigeria. Specifically, the work sought to quantify welfare-related practices, identify key risk factors affecting fish health and productivity, and determine the main predictors of welfare performance across farms. By establishing a baseline, the study aimed to support the development of targeted interventions and monitoring tools to improve fish welfare and sustainability in rapidly expanding smallholder aquaculture systems.
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Background:
Fish welfare is increasingly recognised as central to sustainable aquaculture, influencing animal health, productivity and economic outcomes. However, empirical welfare data from smallholder systems in sub-Saharan Africa remain limited. In Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest aquaculture producers, cluster-based farming systems are expanding rapidly but may concentrate welfare risks such as poor water quality, inconsistent management and disease transmission. Existing research highlights the importance of factors such as stocking density, feeding and environmental conditions. However, there is currently a lack of standardised, field-applicable tools to assess welfare across diverse smallholder contexts.
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Approach:
The study surveyed 188 smallholder fish farms across aquaculture clusters in southern Nigeria using structured questionnaires and on-site assessments. Data were collected on farm characteristics, management practices, welfare awareness, water quality, feeding, mortality and environmental impacts. A composite Welfare Practice Index based on nine management and welfare indicators was developed to classify farms into low, medium or high welfare performance categories.
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Key finding:
Fish welfare practices were highly variable, with most farms performing below optimal standards: 55.9% were classified as low welfare, 34.9% medium, and only 9.2% high. Major challenges included slow growth (91%), poor water quality (60%) and high mortality (56%). Water management was largely reactive and routing monitoring was rare. Training and digital or hybrid record-keeping were the strongest predictors of improved welfare performance, while mortality was primarily driven by environmental factors such as flooding rather than routine management practices.
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Industry or policy relevance:
The findings highlight substantial welfare gaps in smallholder aquaculture systems and demonstrate the need for integrated, system-level interventions. While focussed on Nigeria, the results are highly relevant to smallholder aquaculture across low- and middle-income countries, where similar constraints such as limited training, weak monitoring and environmental vulnerability are likely to be common. For policymakers, the study supports integrating fish welfare into aquaculture regulation, extension services and certification schemes. The Welfare Practice Index offers a scalable, adaptable tool for benchmarking welfare and guiding improvements across diverse global production systems.
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Route for practical application:
Practical improvements can be achieved through a combination of farmer training, routine monitoring and infrastructure development. Training programmes should focus on water-quality management, humane handling and record-keeping and can be delivered through farmer networks or extension services globally. The adoption of simple digital or hybrid record systems offer a low-cost, scalable solution for improving welfare monitoring in smallholder systems. The Welfare Practice Index provides a flexible framework that can be adapted for use by NGOs, governments and industry stakeholders to assess welfare and track improvements across different countries and production contexts.
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Confidence in findings and next steps towards realising impact:
This study provides a valuable and robust baseline of fish welfare practices in smallholder aquaculture, supported by a large sample size (188 farms) and a structured, replicable Welfare Practice Index. The consistency of findings, particularly strong associations between training, record-keeping and welfare performance, adds confidence that the identified drivers are meaningful and actionable across multiple systems. However, a number of potential limitations should be considered. Data were largely self-reported from farms, introducing potential recall and reporting bias, and the cross-sectional study design limits inference about causal relationships. The study was limited to southern Nigeria and conducted over a short time frame, meaning that seasonal and regional variation may not be fully captured. In addition, the Welfare Practice Index is based on management practices rather than direct physiological or behavioural indicators of fish welfare which may constrain biological validation. To realise impact, future work could integrate longitudinal monitoring and fish-based welfare indicators alongside controlled evaluation of interventions such as training programmes and low-cost monitoring tools. Testing and adapting the Welfare Practice Index across different locations and production systems will be critical to establish its generalisability and support wider global application.
Funders:
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW)
Links to Open Access Publications or DOI:
Citation:
Onyeka, N. F., Oster, N. F., Kesena, E. J., & Emam, W. (2026). Measuring fish welfare in smallholder aquaculture: Development and application of a welfare practice index in southern Nigeria. International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies, 14(3), 36–47.
