Pictured: Assessing tilapia welfare using the FAI Tilapia Welfare App, which is included in the new Tilapia Hub.
Photo: FAI
FAI Farms has launched a new online platform aimed at helping tilapia farmers improve fish welfare while also boosting farm performance.
The Tilapia Hub brings together training, welfare assessment tools and certification guidance in a single digital platform designed for professionals across the tilapia supply chain.
Tilapia is one of the world’s most widely farmed fish species, with global production forecast to reach around 9 million tonnes by 2030, second only to carp. As production expands, FAI says improving welfare standards will be increasingly important for both ethical and commercial reasons.
According to the organisation, better welfare practices can reduce losses and improve productivity, while also helping producers meet rising expectations from retailers, regulators and seafood buyers. Thus the aim of the new platform is to make welfare guidance more accessible for farmers worldwide, as Dr Sara Barrento, FAI’s e-learning and aquaculture programme manager, explains.
“We are already influencing thousands of tilapia farmers worldwide. The Tilapia Hub accelerates this progress by translating our global welfare programme into a user-friendly digital platform,” she said.
The Hub is available in six languages widely spoken in the tilapia sector – Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Arabic and English – and combines FAI’s online courses, face-to-face learning programmes and practical welfare assessment tools.
Dr. Sara Barrento, FAI’s e-learning and aquaculture program manager
The newly-launched platform, which is hosted on FAI Academy, the organisation’s digital learning platform for food and farming professionals, also helps producers prepare for certification with major aquaculture standards such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA), Berrento said.
“This enables companies to gain recognition for their commitment to high welfare standards,” she added.
Farmers can earn two welfare badges as they progress through the programme. The “welfare-trained” badge recognises completion of the Tilapia Welfare Trained Foundation course and a commitment to welfare assessment, while the “welfare-assessed” badge is awarded following independent evaluation of welfare outcomes on farm.
The platform also includes FAI's Tilapia Welfare App, which allows users to monitor fish wellbeing through a scoring system based on key health and welfare indicators. The app was launched in Kenya last April, and has been incorporated in the aquaculture curriculum of Egypt Kafr El Sheikh University since January 2025.
The organisation said it was also enabling industry partners to contribute research, innovation and technology through the Hub, "helping to secure welfare’s place at the centre of tilapia’s sustainable future".
“FAI's science-based training and welfare assessments complement our mission to deliver robust and sustainable tilapia genetics. By combining genetics with welfare practices, we are helping farmers achieve stronger performance while upholding standards that benefit both the animals and the industry,” said Maria Delphino of GenoMar Genetics in Brazil.
The launch follows FAI’s introduction of a similar platform for another major aquaculture species. In January, the organisation unveiled the Shrimp Hub, an online resource designed to help shrimp producers embed welfare practices in their farming operations while improving productivity and readiness for certification.
The two platforms form part of FAI’s wider effort to integrate aquatic animal welfare more firmly into global aquaculture systems.