© Rob Fletcher
Compassion in World Farming is today (29 April 2025) urging supporters to ask Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to vote to improve transport conditions for fish and other aquatic animals in the Fisheries committee in the European Parliament.
The animal welfare and environmental NGO has created a new video highlighting the welfare issues involved during the transport of a billion or so fish and other aquatic animals in the EU without legal protection each year.
The NGO is urging EU citizens to share it across social media, tagging MEPs ahead of an upcoming crucial vote.
In 2023 the European Commission published a proposal on the protection of animals during transport, which is currently being reviewed by the European Parliament and Council. In the coming months, the Fisheries committee will vote on the EU Animal Transport Regulation, and Compassion encourages MEPs to vote to include specific laws to protect the welfare of farmed fish and other aquatic animals, such as crabs, during transit.
Nine out of ten people across the EU believe the welfare of fish should be protected to at least the same extent as other farmed animals, according to a 2024 survey jointly commissioned by Eurogroup for Animals and Compassion in World Farming.
Vinciane Patelou, head of EU at Compassion in World Farming, said in a press release: “Fish are sentient beings - capable of feeling pain, joy and sadness - but the EU has neglected them for years and failed to protect them through species-specific laws.
“MEPs now have the chance to change that by backing the EU Animal Transport Regulation, which finally provides an opportunity to improve the welfare of these sentient animals across the EU.”
