A second-round of one-day training workshops were held in Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok on 14th and 16th October 2024, respectively. The training was focused on “Research on Aquatic Animal Welfare Science and Practical Applications”. The sessions were led by Prof. Sonia Rey Planellas and Prof. Amaya Albalat with inputs from several research project leaders and facilitated brainstorming and feedback with the participants.

The workshop in Vietnam featured the following reports on active research projects:

• Assessing the status of awareness, behaviour, best practices and proposing solutions related to improving animal welfare in shrimp value chains in the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam (Hoang Van Cuong, VIFEP)

• Perceptions of farmed fish welfare by different stakeholders: A focus on small-scale fish farms in Mekong Delta, Vietnam (Tran M. Phu, CTU)

• Addressing the aquatic animal welfare gap in Vietnamese eductation systems (Pham Kim Long, TVU)

• Fish Welfare in Veitnamese Market Live Holding Systems: A Health and Cost-Benefit Analysis (Nghia Phan, UoS)

The workshop in Thailand featured the following project presentations:

• Perceptions and Attitudes towards Fish Vaccination in Thailand (Saengchan Senapin, BIOTEC)

• An Assessment of Perceptions and Behaviours of Stakeholders in Central Thailand and Factors Influencing Farmed Fish Welfare Decisions in the Aquaculture Businesses (Putsorn Chuntachorn, AIT)

• Effects of Stocking density and time during transportation on stress behavioural and morphological observations and metabolic changes in Nile tilapia fry and their impact on growth performances, survival and health status through juvenile stage (Surintorn Boonanuntanasarn, SUT)

• Bridging Gaps in Aquaculture: A Field study on Economics and Fish Welfare in Thai Markets (Arnan Hirunratanakorn, UoS)

One of the main purposes of the workshop was to gather expert opinion on current challenges and opportunities with respect to improving aquatic animal welfare in Asia. This consultation was let by Amaya Albalat using the Mentimeter interactive survey tool, followed by smaller group sessions to consider more in-depth questions. The results of these consultations will be analysed and published in due course.

Towards the end of each event, Sonia Rey Planellas gave a presentation on “Welfare Dimensions and Operational Welfare Indicators” which further explored many of the issues that emerged in the group discussions.

Further information about the workshops and presentation slides are available on the Researching Welfare Training Page.