EuroGroup for Animals / CiWF Fish Welfare Survey

Survey of 9,047 EU adults about their attitudes towards fish welfare

• Seven in ten (68%) respondents overall say that they know just a little or nothing at all about the welfare of fish for human consumption in their respective countries.

• Respondents are most likely to say that fish being in clean and unpolluted water is important/essential for good fish welfare, with three in five (59%) on average saying that this is essential for good fish welfare.

• Two thirds of adults across the nine European markets agree that fish are sentient and that fish feel negative emotions (both 65%), while just 13% agree that fish do not feel pain, and 26% that fish are not intelligent.

• Nearly half (45%) of respondents across the nine European markets say that dirty water is the most negative factor for the welfare of fish, while around three quarters (76%) rank this as one of the three most negative factors.

• On average, four in five (79%) respondents across the European markets say that the welfare of fish should be protected to the same extent as the welfare of other animals we eat.

• Four in five (79%) adults across the nine markets say that they would like to see information about the fish’s welfare on the label of all fish products, while one in ten (10%) say they would not.

Date Published: 06/06/2018

Categories: Europe | Food and Beverage | Social

Client: EuroGroup for Animals / Compassion in World Farming

Methodology

ComRes interviewed 9,047 adults in nine European markets (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Czech Republic) aged 18+ online between 30^th April and 8^th May 2018. Data were weighted to be representative of all adults in these countries aged 18+ by age, gender and region.

The European markets were chosen to ensure the results took into account the variety of countries within the European Union (EU) in terms of geography, political history and culture. While the combined results cannot be representative of the EU as a whole, they represent the range of opinions that can be found within the EU.