Legislation - Supermarkets
One of the strongest influences on the production conditions of livestock is that of the multi-chain supermarket retailers. The rapid growth of supermarkets has undoubtedly been linked to the increased intensification of livestock production. The welfare policy of supermarkets ultimately reflects a consumer concern over the ethics of livestock production (Cooke, 2001), and the increased public awareness of animal welfare issues has led to an increased focus of supermarkets on the production conditions and welfare of livestock from their suppliers.
Supermarkets now regularly audit their suppliers
and have the power to impose financial penalties for non-conformities. However, the emphasis placed on animal welfare varies greatly between different companies. Some supermarket companies pride themselves on the measures that they have in place to safeguard the welfare of animals from their suppliers, believing that these measures influence their customers' decision to choose them over other cheaper stores where the emphasis may be on guaranteeing a low price above other factors. The complexity of animal welfare means that in practice there are likely to good and bad cases of animal welfare from both intensive and extensive systems. It is also highly unlikely that the welfare of fish from a producer using an intensive farming system and operating on low margins is always going to be worse than more expensive fish from less intensive production systems.
The focus of any initiative marketing itself on the basis of improved animal welfare should be on minimising the extent (numbers of fish affected) and magnitude of suffering, and not just filling a niche within the market by exploiting consumer concern.