GenoMar continues to advance its global commitment to animal health, quality, and sustainability by strengthening its approach to animal welfare across all operations. As part of this journey, the company has established a strategic partnership with Food Animal Initiative (FAI), a globally recognized organization with extensive scientific expertise in animal welfare across multiple species and production systems.
A science-based approach to animal welfare
FAI brings a unique combination of scientific knowledge and practical implementation experience, supporting industries worldwide in improving animal welfare standards. While their work spans terrestrial and aquatic species, their expertise is now contributing to the evolution of welfare practices within tilapia production — an area where GenoMar is taking a leading role.
FAI’s training and digital tool have been highly effective in implementing animal welfare standards across all our tilapia breeding and genetics operations. This drives stronger performance and more sustainable production
Training and implementation: From Brazil to Asia
GenoMar is actively working to implement robust, science-based protocols across its operations. In Brazil, all units have already undergone training, marking an important milestone in building internal capacity and aligning teams around best practices in animal welfare.
The next phase of this initiative is already underway, with the expansion of training and implementation across GenoMar’s operations in Colombia and Asia. This global rollout reflects the company’s commitment to ensuring consistent standards across regions, while respecting local operational realities.
Digital tools driving continuous improvement
Beyond training, the partnership with FAI also includes the use of an intuitive and user-friendly digital tool that supports the assessment of animal welfare indicators in a structured and continuous way. This enables teams to better understand their processes, identify opportunities for improvement, and monitor progress over time.
GenoMar’s commitment to implementing and assessing animal welfare practices can also be seen through FAI’s public platform, which highlights companies actively applying welfare training and assessment frameworks:
https://fai.academy/en/company-welfare-badges
How GenoMar monitors animal welfare
At GenoMar, animal welfare is a core pillar of daily routines. The company embeds structured assessment and continuous improvement into every stage of production.
Consequently, teams can objectively evaluate welfare conditions using practical, observable indicators.
Through the implementation of FAI’s assessment framework and digital tool, GenoMar monitors key areas such as:
- Fish behavior – swimming patterns, responsiveness, and signs of stress or abnormal activity
- Physical condition – external appearance, injuries, deformities, and overall body condition
- Handling practices – procedures such as grading, transfer, and crowding, ensuring they are conducted in a way that minimizes stress
- Environmental conditions – water quality parameters and stocking densities, as they directly impact welfare and performance
- Operational processes – consistency and quality of routine management practices across teams and units
The employees carry out these assessments using a standardized and user-friendly app. The app enables real-time data collection, intuitive scoring, and clear identification of areas for improvement.
As a result, GenoMar can diagnose current conditions, track progress over time, and support data-driven decision-making. This approach strengthens a culture of animal welfare across all teams.
By integrating these practices into daily operations, GenoMar ensures that animal welfare is not treated as a one-time initiative. Instead, it is a continuous, measurable, and science-based process. This commitment aligns with the company’s broader mission of responsible aquaculture and sustainable food production.
