Student from Haslemere wins RSPCA Assured sponsored Award
Local Haslemere student, Lottie, who is studying marine biology at Swansea University has been awarded a prestigious fish welfare award sponsored by RSPCA Assured - Lottie's project was praised for its potential to open promising avenues for research to help improve fish welfare.
Talented Marine Biology student, Lottie Oulson, 22 who is studying at Swansea University achieved the top prize for her joint research project on positive measures of welfare in farmed fish.
RSPCA Assured, the RSPCA’s farm animal welfare assurance scheme, has sponsored the award for the ‘Best Dissertation on Welfare in Aquaculture’ at Swansea University for the second time.
Lottie was presented with the prestigious award along with her research partner, Ollie Duke. They both received a certificate of recognition and a £100 voucher.
Lottie completed her research project at Swansea University’s Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research and carried out a practical assignment using Operational Welfare Indicators*, as part of their Aquaculture & Fisheries module.
The winning project focused on positive welfare linked to dietary choice for Nile tilapia, one of the world’s most farmed fish. The findings indicated that dietary choice might improve fish welfare in an artificial environment, allowing the expression of more natural behaviours.
The project was praised for its potential to open up a promising avenue for introducing new measures for positive welfare on farmed fish.
Emilie Wix, Head of Farming Engagement at RSPCA Assured, said “We are delighted to again support these excellent fish welfare projects undertaken by the students at Swansea University.
“Farmed fish welfare is an important issue and we hope that by sponsoring awards such as this, we can help to encourage the fish industry specialists of tomorrow to prioritise improving welfare standards.
“We are proud that the RSPCA Assured scheme and the RSPCA higher welfare standards for farmed Atlantic salmon and trout have been a catalyst for change for over the last 20 years, and we look forward to seeing what Lottie does next.”
The RSPCA’s higher farmed animal welfare standards cover each of the major animal species farmed in the UK, including salmon and trout. All farms on the RSPCA Assured scheme must comply with the RSPCA’s welfare standards which go above and beyond ‘standard’ or typical UK production to ensure animals have what they need for a better quality of life.
Professor Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research at Swansea University, said: “We are excited to make this Award to Lottie for this outstanding research into dietary choice for farmed fish which could lead to higher welfare in the future. She showed excellent knowledge of the challenges faced by the aquaculture industry and we hope she will contribute to improving fish welfare in her future career.
“We are grateful for the support of RSPCA Assured by sponsoring this Award which aims to inspire our students to contribute to a greater understanding of how to improve welfare in the aquaculture industry.
*Operational Welfare Indicators are ways of assessing animal and fish welfare - done by observing or measuring physical features such as growth rate and condition, or behavioural features, such as curiosity.