Effects of the Regulatory Framework on Fish Welfare and Health

REGFISHWELH er et forskningsprosjekt finansiert av Norges Forskningsråd som vil gå frem til årsslutt 2018. Forskningsprosjektet har som formål å vurdere betydning og effekten av norsk havbruksforvaltning og regulering for fiskevelferd og helse. Det innebærer å undersøke hvor godt næringsaktører og andre forstår regelverket, hvordan det påvirker praksis på merdkanten, og hvilke effekter regelverket har. Prosjektet vil også se på hvordan forvaltningen benytter ulike forvaltningsinstrumenter og hvorvidt disse komplementerer eller er i konflikt med hverandre. Prosjektet ledes av Havforskningsinstituttet ved Lars Helge Stien. Øvrige samarbeidspartnere er Veterinærinstiuttet, Universitet i Oslo og NTNU Samfunnsforskning. In this project, we will analyse how the legislation and the interaction between the government and the aquaculture industry affects fish welfare and fish health in commercial sea cages. We will undertake a systematic comparison of the regulatory framework for fish health and welfare with the corresponding framework for chicken production to identify any discrepancies or inconsistencies. Focus groups within fish welfare courses will give information on how the personnel rearing the fish perceive the framework, and highlight issues they think the framework fails to address. In-depth interviews of key people in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, fish health professionals, fish farmers and fish farm company leaders will provide information about how they interact with each other and how the different parties perceive the regulations and the policy instrument used by the various branches of the government. One of the goals is to evaluate when regulations which provide detailed requirements and describe specific solutions are most appropriate, and when function based regulation that only specify overall goals of good fish welfare and health work better. We will also analyse known cases were government measures work against animal welfare in order to promote other societal interests, to gain an understanding of how these conflict cases are handled by the industry and different levels of the government. Based on the results of the in-depth interviews, the focus groups and the analysis of regulations, we will then formulate assumptions about the effects of the framework and test whether these assumptions can be confirmed by available data on increased mortality and disease outbreaks in the industry. The ultimate goal is to achieve a better understanding of how the regulatory framework affects fish welfare and fish health, and on this basis,give advice on how it can be improved to promote better fish welfare and fish health