A paper suggesting that zebrafish express a preference for substrates by positioning themselves over photographs of gravel is particularly often cited in the UK (see [97]). A History of Animal Welfare Science. Thus, work involving specially protected species for which the public has great sympathy, such as with nonhuman primates, is typically viewed as especially high risk. In addition, the comparative simplicity of the zebrafish genome facilitated the application of various molecular technologies. Moreover, they can raise 3Rs considerations in their own right. Can they [the fish] feel it? Learn more about aquarium filters at Fish Laboratory.https://www.fishlaboratory.com/fish/aquarium-filterAn aquarium filtration system can be broken down into. An ex-Home Office inspector comments: I think probably the biggest constraint is just actually the lack of good data and scientific knowledge about what an appropriate environment for the zebrafish might be. Aquarium is a Laboratory Operating system for building reproducible, experimental protocols and workflows. A central element of this is reviewing and approving project license applications (a license is required to perform regulated experimental procedures on regulated animals in the UK). Implicitly or explicitly viewing the use of fish versus mice in this way sits awkwardly with the formal equality articulated in the definition of protected animal in legislation. While gesturing towards the issue of funding, he explained that the problem is not simply that there was not enough of it, but that, in comparison to rodents, there was not yet within in the zebrafish world sufficient capacity to compete for it on even terms. Lopez-Luna J., Canty M.N., Al-Jubouri Q., Al-Nuaimy W., Sneddon L.U. Despite their importance, their welfare has usually been less of a focus of public interest or regulatory attention than the welfare of more familiar terrestrial and mammalian laboratory animals; indeed, the use of fish in experiments has often been viewed as ethically preferable or even neutral. Human-animal bonds in the laboratory: How animal behavior affects the perspectives of caregivers. While regulations sensitive to the recognition of degrees of sentience may one day be possible and desirable [107], as it is such views about differences amongst vertebrates are likely to be informed by outdated ideas about the phylogenetic scale [91], as well as more arbitrary and sentimental ideas about what people believe is acceptable to do to different categories of animal [6,9,108]. You put them into an empty tank and that must be bad for them so they then put in lots of substrate and weeds and various other things in as well, you know, but we dont really know, I dont know. Ormandy E.H., Schuppli C.A. Asked whether she empathised with her fish, Erica demurred with some difficulty: I think that [the word empathy] might be too strong. National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research. In this passage, it is very clear how beliefs about what the public feel about the use of different animals fills the gap opened up by the admission of fundamental uncertainty about the nature of fish sentience and experience. I try not to be, but I am quite sort of, I can be anthropomorphic. Instruments used in medical laboratories - Wikipedia For example, we noted how the apparently relatively low priority given to fish welfare amongst animal welfare and rights organisations is often linked to a perceived lack of broader public concern. ; writingreview and editing, R.M. However, at the same time, it is acknowledged that this requires effort to sustain, and successful and lasting individualisation is the exception, not the rule (see also [95]). All other species of fish combined accounted for 2.6 percent of animals used [86]. Making Mice: Standardizing Animals for American Biomedical Research, 19001955. sharing sensitive information, make sure youre on a federal This paper draws on data and insights developed in one sub-strand of this wider project. Some of our participants pointed out that it is a default legal requirement to administer pain relief for all protected animals when appropriate, yet in the case of fish there was no standard analgesic authorized for use, nor indeed is analgesia use as widely practiced as it could be. These premium rimless aquarium tanks are well-crafted, and they are made of high-quality glass and durable silicon material. Many 3Rs-geared ambitions for zebrafish would be impossible without specialist scientific expertise. Sometimes this can be a real labor of love. AQUARIUM : The Laboratory Operating System. Felix, an experienced facility manager with a background in research, suggested there was a fashion for putting things in tanks (interview with Felix, aquarium facility manager, 1 November 2018). Growth in the number of commentators does not necessarily reflect serious changes in policy and practice. Broom D.M. Referring to the behavior of post-operative fish, Evelyn said: They [the fish] act like everything is fine, but there is always a nagging doubt in the back of my head, there always will be. Via the European Union in particular, regulators have made attempts at entrenching the legal recognition of fish as sentient beings in practice, and have been active in areas including humane slaughter regulations and the harmonizing of husbandry standards for farmed fish, e.g., [40,41,42]. Fish are more difficult to attach to than animals like primates, pigs, sheep, rabbits and rats [interview with Evelyn, aquarium facility manager, 18 January 2018]. Whisker Shrimp (Macrobrachium Lanchesteri): Ultimate Care Guide. Felix, and others whom we have spoken to who share his point of view, are far from dismissive of enrichment for fish in general but worry that a focus on structural enrichments is a distraction from the factors they think are really more important for fish welfare and should be the focus of attention. That step into mammals--, [] is a difficult thing to deal with. When there is an acknowledged lack of scientific consensus on issues that are of community and policy relevance, the values and perspectives held by collective and individual stakeholders can play a key role in shaping policy decisions and practices [110]. [(accessed on 4 September 2019)]; Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit [(accessed on 2 December 2019)]; Animals in Science Committee Harm-Benefit Analysis Sub-Group . Mann M.D. Great Barrier Reef coral 'insurance policy' secures the future of Furthermore, as weve suggested, where welfare recommendations are produced or come from (by scientists, by technologists or by particular groups or individuals, for example) and who they are promoted by (aquarists, mouse people or an HOI and so forth) can be very important, over and above the recommendations themselves, in determining their reception by the laboratory animal community. "But It's Just a Fish": Understanding the Challenges of Applying the But equally they are a fantastic model as a replacement because, as far as we know, they are less sentient than other species, but we dont know. In this context, we also presented the claim that zebrafish have not hitherto been perceived as sexy enough to attract the attention of enough credible experts in animal welfare science and animal behavior who are interested in pursuing 3Rs-related work. Another facility manager we spoke to, a keen proponent of enrichment for all kinds of animal, lamented the fact that, in his opinion some researchers do actually choose to enrich as a kind of virtue signaling to outsiders, especially the Home Office, not because they actually care much about what it might mean for animal welfare (RM, Field Notes, 16 August 2018). Others object to this interpretation of the meaning of fish preference behaviors or report having been told of (the referecne to hearsay is deliberate here) statistical or methodological weaknesses in papers about enrichment, and explain that people they knowothers in the fieldhave taken these as a basis for inaction. Developing a Collaborative Agenda for Humanities and Social Scientific Research on Laboratory Animal Science and Welfare. Notably, it seems that this doubt is likely to be spiced with concerns about the source of advocacy for structural forms of environmental enrichment, including the belief that this is an ideology that is imported, without due consideration to context and species differences, from the world of rodent husbandry. Lasting, on average, around one and a half hours, interviews were conducted, where possible, at the place of work of the interviewee. The National Anti-Vivisection Society and Lord Dowding Fund websites feature a new stock image in their banners each time their pages are refreshed. Indeed, looking at the database of funded research from the premier source of 3Rs funding in the UKthe NC3Rswe find as of 2 December 2019 that with one exception, all funded zebrafish-based projects have established research scientists listed as their principal investigators. Fish do not feel pain and its implications for understanding phenomenal consciousness. Like with a plant, I mean on one hand youre creating cover for them to hide in if theyre getting bullied or fighting, on the other hand, youre creating something for someone to get territorial about and stressed about. The Forever Reef Project living coral biobank opened this week and currently houses fewer than 200 coral species from . [Consequently], its easier to kind of detach yourself a little bit emotionally from that fish. In this context, those who work with fish in laboratory settings often act as advocates for fish to be treated equally with other animal denizens of the lab. Ottar Olsen S., Honkanen P. Environmental and animal welfare issues in food choice: The case of farmed fish. Appendix A of the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes (ETS123) provides key guidelines for the accommodation and care of animals used in science across Europe. Frontiers | The Art of Aquarium Keeping Communicates Science and Veldhuizen L.J.L., Berentsen P.B.M., de Boer I.J.M., van de Vis J.W., Bokkers E.A.M. In the United Kingdom and many other countries, fish have not historically qualified for sympathy because they were deemed too dissimilar to humans [22] (p. 177). Show more Synthetic Biology, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2021, ysab006, https://doi.org/10.1093/synbio/ysab006 This research was funded by the Wellcome Trust, grant number 205393/A/16/Z as a part of the Animal Research Nexus project. An overview of surveys on how people view animal experimentation: Some factors that may influence the outcome. Exploring animal ethics for non-cuddly species. Fae and others in her position do not disagree that it is possible to observe certain behavioral changes on the introduction of an object like a plastic plant or simulated substrate, for example, which suggest a preference for occupying enriched parts of the tank. Jasanoff S., Simmet H.R. [(accessed on 2 December 2019)]; New Fish and Chip Shop Inspired by Hit Show Blue Planet Opens in Elmers End. The number of times a code is used can suggest the importance of the subject to both the speaker and analyst, but the frequency of use is not on its own a measure of importance or relevance to the present topic. They lack what has been termed nonhuman charisma [117], an ascribed property of some animals that has been credited, in the context of animal conservation, with generating social interest and speciesspecific knowledge bases which in turn forms the basis for decisions on policy and funding priorities. Exhaust air is passed through a high- Laboratory & Aquaculture System Design - RedFin Aquarium Design In the UK, intensive aquaculture and the laboratory aquarium are connected via personnel, technology and knowledge transfer. Thus, knowledge of the welfare trajectory of mice is actually an explicit motivation for pursuing innovations, including enrichment, for fish in some cases. Browman H.I., Cooke S.J., Cowx I.G., Derbyshire S.W.G., Kasumyan A., Key B., Rose J.D., Schwab A., Skiftesvik A.B., Stevens E.D., et al. The .gov means its official. This research has been granted ethical approval by the Central University Research Ethics Committee (CUREC) of the University of Oxford (Reference Number: SOGE 18A-7). Fae again expresses the point: we look to mammals, she told us and go oh yeah environmental enrichment, thats structural things in tanks (interview with Fae, aquarium facility manager, 27 February 2018). March 28, 2006 Aquarius is the only undersea laboratory in the world. Felix terms these more important factors the subtle enrichments, your lighting, your temperatures, your feeding, your flows, those are a much more valuable asset than a plastic plant within a tank. This includes an emergence of reflections on different ethical issues associated with the use of fish in research specifically [21,69,70]. Wilkinson R.N., Elworthy S., Ingham P.W., van Eeden F.J.M. Ethical implications of the human-animal bond in the laboratory. Photo credit: Reuben Message. At the same time, the rise of the zebrafish, in conjunction with other trends such the intensification of aquaculture production and related public anxieties about environmental externalities and food safety, have most likely served to cast light onto the issue of fish welfare more generally, e.g., [42,88,89]. The relative marginalisation of fish is also evident in the materials of organised campaign groups, who are capable of aggregating and directing diffuse and ill-formed public sentiment, and who are an important intermediary in shaping the perspectives of those who make and enforce and policy [116]. It is also common for people who work regularly with fish to say that they see fish and other animals as equals, but that they are aware of people who do not: [For me a fish is] still a living being so I dont see it as being different myself. Davies G. Caring for the Multiple and the Multitude: Assembling Animal Welfare and Enabling Ethical Critique. Behavioural responses of fish larvae modulated by analgesic drugs after a stress exposure. Perception of Fish Sentience, Welfare and Humane Slaughter by Highly Educated Citizens of Bogota, Colombia and Curitiba, Brazil. In this paper, we have shown how qualitative social science offers useful insights into the social drivers that could be influencing thinking, prioritisation and implementation of the 3Rs with respect to laboratory fish welfare. Those already inclined to enrichment tend to find such evidence a better reason to act than others who are not. An example of Krill protocol code and its corresponding rendered protocol instructions. Report of the Animals in Science Committee Harm-Benefit Analysis Sub-Group chaired by Professor Gail Davies. It is also not yet clear whether recent interest by the news media in scientific work exploring the mental and emotional capacities of some fish speciesincluding for example their capacity to feel pain [62], pass the mirror test of putative self-awareness [63], or pine for their mates and get depressed [64,65]either reflect or have provoked substantial changes in public attitude. However, given what has been said about the perception of fish, their representation in the regulatory discourse, and widespread assumptions about what the public feel about fish, it is perhaps not unreasonable to suggest that they might occasionally fall between the cracks created when the different prerogatives of risk assessment are misaligned. Exploring the efficacy of immersion analgesics in zebrafish using an integrative approach. Finally, we noted how more general trends towards a lack of investment and research interests in the 3Rs, recognised across the animal research community, are compounded by specific issues associated with the overall capacity of zebrafish community to engage successfully in 3Rs initiatives. Since then, we have grown multifold and take pride to have a strong . Protocols, written in a Ruby DSL called Krill, encode how to manipulate Aquarium's inventory system (LIMS), compute formulae such as volumes . While a number of foci suggest themselves, some of which the authors explore in forthcoming work, we have thus restricted the discussion below to three key themes: knowledge and consensus, attitudes and experiences, and institutional support and capacity. In his experience, the field of fish welfare has been characterised by a lot of disagreement, often underpinned by insufficient knowledge of fish/zebrafish welfare science and of the basic biology that informs it, at least in comparison to the knowledge of the other major laboratory animal species. Academic researchers have also led in the development of protocols with direct 3Rs implications, for instance, concerning the genotyping of zebrafish by means of fin clips on very young larvae (3dpf) [125]. Whether your lab handles plasmid DNA or hamsters, you can define whatever information ought to be associated with your samples. Both mesocosms were placed on a laboratory bench at ambient room temperature and covered to reduce evapotranspiration. It can be added to the aquarium water in low dosages regularly to maintain the fish's health. In other words, we are offering an account of the ways in which people talk about: (i) whether or not they (and others) care about fish (attitudes towards); and (ii) how this shapes their ability to care for them (husbandry practices).