Tranquil-Fish

Live fish transport is a critical phase in aquaculture, often leading to severe stress due to handling, overcrowding, fasting, and declining water quality. These stressors can cause physiological imbalances, weakened immunity, higher mortality, and raise both economic and welfare concerns.

While dietary supplements have shown stress-reducing effects in different animal species, the use of water-soluble extracts or compounds during live transport remains almost unexplored. Such an approach could provide an innovative and more consistent alternative to traditional anesthetics, whose effects are often variable.

TRANQUIL-FISH aims to develop and validate novel water-based formulations to reduce stress in fish during transport. The project will test these solutions under real-world conditions with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and assess physiological markers (e.g., cortisol), water quality, microbial load, behavior, and recovery after transport.

By collaborating with industry partners, TRANQUIL-FISH seeks to deliver practical tools for aquaculture that enhance fish welfare, support sustainable production practices, and open new opportunities for commercialization and follow-up research.