Principles of fish welfare assessment in farm rearing conditions

For several decades fish welfare has been subject of many researches, and the interest for this subject is connected with the fact that fish can feel pain and suffering. In addition to this stressors’ mechanisms of action and their consequences are similar in mammals and fish. Assessment of welfare for farmed fish is based on the same principles as for terrestrial farm animals. However, special methods of collecting data are needed due to morphological characteristics of fish and properties of their environment. In the world and in our country, researches of different ways of fish welfare assessment are being conducted, especially based on non-invasive techniques such as monitoring of behaviour. In this paper a review of basic principles and methods used in assessment of farmed fish welfare is given.