SPCA New Zealand - Animal Welfare Certified
Improving animal welfare for Chinook (King) Salmon
New Zealand salmon farming is a reasonably young industry, having started in the 1980s. Whilst most of the world farms the common Atlantic salmon, New Zealand farms Chinook (King) salmon - the largest of the Pacific salmon species. New Zealand’s farmed salmon makes up around 75% of the global Chinook production.
Fish are recognised as sentient under New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act 1999. This means they can have positive and negative emotions (such as pleasure, pain, and stress), which impact on their overall welfare. While the general requirements of the Animal Welfare Act and the Codes of Welfare for Transport within New Zealand and for Commercial Slaughter set out requirements that apply to farmed fish, there is currently no code of welfare setting specific minimum standards for their care prior to transport and slaughter. To fill this gap, SPCA Certified has developed animal welfare standards for the farming of Chinook salmon requiring a high level of care.
When you see the SPCA Certified blue badge, you can be confident of better animal welfare for farmed salmon
One of the ways SPCA Certified works to improve farmed animal welfare is to focus on providing animals with opportunities for positive experiences in addition to reducing negative experiences.
The Chinook (King) Salmon standards incorporate the unique needs and requirements of farmed salmon within the New Zealand farming landscape. For example, the standards require that salmon must be able to move freely to explore their environment so they can find areas of temperature, current velocity, and light levels they prefer. Recently hatched fish (alevins) must be able to access a safe environment where they can burrow and seek shelter, as they would in the wild. SPCA Certified standards also require salmon farmers to have an animal health plan in place which is regularly updated with a specialist veterinarian.
Animal welfare audits are not a requirement under current animal welfare legislation for any species, including salmon. However, all SPCA Certified farms are independently audited at least twice a year, including unannounced audits, to ensure farms keep meeting the SPCA Certified welfare standards.
What does life look like for Chinook Salmon under SPCA Certified?
At SPCA Certified we believe in making it easier for consumers to know what they are buying and how to support better welfare. The infographic below compares requirements for Chinook Salmon under current legislation and the SPCA Certified standards.
While we don’t have any SPCA Certified salmon products available, we welcome and encourage salmon farmers and retailers who are interested in becoming SPCA Certified to get in touch with us.
If you would like to encourage your local supermarkets or retailers to stock SPCA Certified products, please contact them directly. The more businesses that stock products with the SPCA Certified logo, the more opportunity it gives shoppers to buy products from New Zealand animals that received a higher level of care.
