Animal Welfare in Aquaculture and Public Aquariums

Code:

RM32

Acronym:

RM32

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Behavior Sciences

Instance: 2024/2025 - 2S (of 17-02-2025 to 18-07-2025)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Behavioural Sciences
Course/CS Responsible:	Master Degree in Marine Sciences - Marine Resources

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MCMRM	3	Oficial Plan 2018	1	-	5	50	135

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

Animal Welfare in Aquaculture and Public Aquariums students should show evidence of proficiency of:

(1) Knowing the fundamentals of animal welfare and developing a critical spirit in situations where animal welfare may be compromised.

(2) Recognize that animal welfare “status” includes the physical and emotional state of the animal;

(3) Understand the theoretical basis for the basic needs of aquatic animals;

(4) Discriminate normal and abnormal behavior;

(5) Understand the potential of promoting animal welfare in aquaculture and public aquariums

(6) Adopt a critical view in the face of problems posed in professional practice.

(7) Design, develop and present original work resulting from the assessment of a range of welfare indicators to identify and improve welfare problems of aquatic animals – based on the acquired knowledge;

 

Learning outcomes and competences

It is planned that this UC has large participation of students, who will:

(1) Use scientific principles to assess different animal welfare problems

(2) Develop individual and group work that promotes reflection and critical thinking;

(3) Design, develop and present original work resulting from the observation and assessment of the welfare of animals in aquaculture and aquariums;

(4) Develop the ability to communicate, presenting review/original works in the form of oral or poster communication.

Working method

Presencial

Program

       1 What is animal welfare and why is it important?

• Sentience, mind and fish well-being
• Introduction, History, and Concepts of Animal Welfare

2. What can we measure, what can we manage

• Assessment of Animal Behavior and Animal Welfare
• Animal welfare indicators
• Stress and well-being
• Acute stress and chronic stress
• Physiological measures of animal welfare

3. Animal behavior as a measure of well-being

• How to observe the behavior
• Behavioral indicators

4. Introduction to Well-fare in Aquaculture

• Welfare concerns in aquaculture
• Reproduction, growth, and well-being
• Operational well-being indicators
• Nutrition, health, and wellness
• Transport and Wellness
• Slaughter and Welfare

5. Introduction to well-being in Public Aquariums

• Welfare concerns in public aquariums
• Well-being indicators in the aquarium
• Cognitive Bias and Animal Welfare
• Animal-Human Interaction
• Welfare considerations in the euthanasia decision

6. Environmental enrichment in captive fish

Mandatory literature

Donald M. Broom, Ken G. Johnson; Stress and Animal Welfare: Key Issues in the Biology of Humans and Other Animals, vol 19. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32153-6, 2019. ISBN: 978-3-030-32152-9
Heather Browning; Improving welfare assessment in aquaculture, Front. Vet. Sci., 28 February Sec. Animal Behavior and Welfare Volume 10 , 2023. ISBN: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1060720
Tore S. Kristiansen, Anders Fernö, Michail A. Pavlidis, Hans van de Vis. Springer Cham. 515pp.; The Welfare of Fish, Springer Cham. 515pp, 2020. ISBN: 978-3-030-41674-4
Martins, C. I., Galhardo, L., Noble, C., Damsgård, B., Spedicato, M. T., Zupa, W., Beauchaud, M., Kulczykowska, E., Massabuau, J. C., Carter, T., Planellas, S. R., & Kristiansen, T; Behavioural indicators of welfare in farmed fish, 2012. ISBN: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-011-9518-8.
Huntingford, F. A., & Adams, C; Behavioural syndromes in farmed fish: Implications for production and welfare, 2005
Heather Browning; Improving welfare assessment in aquaculture, Front. Vet. Sci., 28 February Sec. Animal Behavior and Welfare Volume 10 , 2023. ISBN: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1060720

Teaching methods and learning activities

• For each topic of the program, an oral presentation of the fundamental concepts will be carried out by the teacher, using the bibliographic support (books and articles) and audiovisual support (images and videos) most appropriate for each topic.


• Tutorial classes to accompany students in in-depth research and selection of topics that will later be presented and discussed.


•  - journal club -to encourage critical analysis and discussion of research methods, findings, and implications


• Oral presentation of work carried out by students. Discussion of them..

TTheoretical-practical classes:

• Field observations: Practical application of research methods in animal welfare.


• Study visit to an Aquaculture


• Study visits to Ocenário (Lisbon) and Sealife (Porto)

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	10,00
Exame	30,00
Trabalho de campo	20,00
Trabalho escrito	20,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	20,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	5,00
Elaboração de projeto	30,00
Estudo autónomo	10,00
Frequência das aulas	50,00
Trabalho de campo	15,00
Trabalho de investigação	15,00
Trabalho escrito	10,00
Total:	135,00

Eligibility for exams

Presentation of proposed works: (1 project contributing 10% to the final grade). - Development and presentation of two mini-projects on evaluating and promoting animal welfare in aquaculture and public aquariums (60% of the final grade).


Eligibility for exams: Evaluation of the proposed practical work higher than 10 values (10/20).

Calculation formula of final grade

 - Theoretical-Practical Component: Completion of 3 group projects (2 theoretical and 1 mini-project), mandatory, with a minimum grade of 9.5 and contributing 70% to the final grade for the course.

- Theoretical Component: Final theoretical exam covering the content of the theoretical and theoretical-practical classes, contributing 30% to the final grade for the course, with a minimum grade of 9.5.

-The final grade will be the weighted average of the TP assessment (70%) + T assessment (30%).

Students who achieve the minimum grade (9.5) in the theoretical-practical component may retain that grade.

Classification improvement

Repetition of the theoretical exam, according to the rules established by the UP