A complete and total update on animal welfare with the most complete and effective online program on the market”

Aquaculture is an important livestock activity. Fish farming has increased in recent decades, and policy makers, scientists and consumers are increasingly focused on the farming practices used and the welfare issues that come with them. How we define welfare in fish and how we can measure it is of particular relevance in the case of these animals. Scientific approaches to assessing fish welfare are continually evolving. Challenges include the great diversity of fish species and production systems, as well as the general paucity of scientific data in this field.

This postgraduate diploma examines the different production systems, either in inland water areas or in marine waters, as well as the different stages in fish rearing, from fry to adult. The effect of stocking density is an area of concern for welfare, which is complex, as it is affected by numerous interacting factors that are known to be species-specific. 

Diet, feeding technique and management procedures have important effects on stress responses, subsequent stress tolerance, health and the occurrence of aggressive behavior. Strategies to reduce susceptibility to disease, minimize stress responses and avoid aggression are therefore vital.

The postgraduate diploma in Animal Welfare in Fish Farming is a new and up-to-date program that arises from the growing demand among veterinary professionals for specialized education in animal welfare to minimize animal suffering, since, nowadays, consumers demand not only healthier and safer food, but also food obtained through practices that ensure animal protection and welfare. 

It addresses the concept of Animal Welfare, its evolution and applied ethology, one of the main welfare problems in all animal facilities.

It also covers animal ethics or bioethics as a differentiating element with respect to other similar training courses. Since this topic is usually included in philosophy programs, it is usually addressed very superficially in health sciences. This highly relevant ethical aspect today will be extensively discussed in depth throughout this postgraduate diploma in Animal Welfare in Fish Farming.

The program will help veterinary professionals acquire specialized and up-to-date knowledge in the field of animal welfare, which is increasingly demanded by society, as conflicts between animal advocates and those in food production are the order of the day.

Join the elite, with this highly effective educational training and open new paths to help you advance in your professional progress”

This postgraduate diploma in Animal Welfare in Fish Farming contains the most complete and up-to-date scientific program on the market. The most important features include:

• The latest technology in online teaching software
• A highly visual teaching system, supported by graphic and schematic contents that are easy to assimilate and understand
• Practical cases presented by practising experts
• State-of-the-art interactive video systems
• Teaching supported by telepractice 
• Continuous updating and recycling systems
• Autonomous learning: full compatibility with other occupations
• Practical exercises for self-evaluation and learning verification
• Support groups and educational synergies: questions to the expert, debate and knowledge forums
• Communication with the teacher and individual reflection work
• Content that is accessible from any fixed or portable device with an Internet connection
• Supplementary documentation databases are permanently available, even after the course

With a methodological design based on proven teaching techniques, this innovative program will take you through different teaching approaches to allow you to learn in a dynamic and effective way"

Our teaching staff is made up of professionals from different fields related to this specialty. That way we are sure to offer the training update we intend to provide. A multidisciplinary team of professionals trained and experienced in different environments, who will develop the theoretical knowledge in an efficient way, but, above all, will put at your service the practical knowledge derived from their own experience: one of the differential qualities of this training. 

The efficiency of the methodological design of this Professional Master's Degree, enhances the student's understanding of the subject. Developed by a multidisciplinary team of e-learning experts, it integrates the latest advances in educational technology. This way, you will be able to study with a range of comfortable and versatile multimedia tools that will give you the operability you need in your training. 

The design of this program is based on Problem-Based Learning: an approach that conceives learning as a highly practical process. To achieve this remotely, we will use telepractice learning: with the help of an innovative interactive video system, and learning from an expert, you will be able to acquire the knowledge as if you were actually dealing with the scenario you are learning about. A concept that will allow you to integrate and fix learning in a more realistic and permanent way. 

A complete program that will allow you to acquire the most advanced knowledge in all the areas of intervention of a specialized veterinarian"

Our innovative telepractice concept will give you the opportunity to learn through an immersive experience, which will provide you with a faster integration and a much more realistic view of the contents: learning from an expert”

Our objective is to create highly qualified professionals for work experience. An objective that is complemented, moreover, in a global manner, by promoting human development that lays the foundations for a better society. This objective is materialized in helping professionals to reach a much higher level of competence and control. A goal that, in just a few months, you will be able to achieve, with a high intensity and effective training program.

If your objective is to broaden your skill set to pave new ways toward success and development, this is the course for you: A training that aspires to excellence”

General Objectives

• Analyze the concept of animal welfare
• Examine human involvement in animal welfare
• Establish animal welfare assessment systems
• Analyze the ethical implications of the treatment of animals in society
• Substantiate the different ethical theories concerning animals
• Generate critical awareness of human responsibility toward animals
• Examine our role in animal welfare
• Compile all the information on implementing animal welfare regulations
• Define all the links involved in animal protection regulations
• Analyze the information on animal protection at the international level
• Develop the concept of "sentient being" in fishes
• Examine welfare assessment in fish farming
• Identify facility and management problems in fish welfare
• Understand welfare in aquarium fish

Specific Objectives

Module 1. Animal Welfare. Concepts and Evolution

• Examine the concept of Animal Welfare in all its implications
• Analyze the physiological stress response in animals and its quantification
• Develop the concepts of stress and acute and chronic stress responses
• Fundamentalize the concepts of "eustress" and "distress"
• Determine the Animal Welfare implications in this stress response
• Develop the concept of freedoms and needs to understand Animal Welfare
• Examine the concept of animal welfare assessment
• Specify current animal welfare assessment systems

Module 2. Animal Ethics

• Analyze the concept of animal ethics and bioethics in all its branches
• Provide a foundation for social, personal and professional ethics toward animals
• Examine the different ethical theories
• Develop the concept of animal status
• Identify the moral status that can be given to animals
• Substantiate animal integrity and hence animal abuse
• Introduce animal law and the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights
• Assess the role of human-animal relationships in welfare

Module 3. National and International Animal Protection Legislation

• Analyze the development of animal protection regulations in the European Union
• Develop animal protection regulations in livestock farms
• Detail animal protection regulations in transport and slaughtering
• Examine animal protection regulations for teaching and research purposes
• Identify international actors in the development of animal protection legislation
• Present animal welfare regulations in countries outside the European Union

Module 4. Animal Welfare in Fish Farming

• Define the physiological stress response in fish
• Analyze information on consciousness, pain and fear in fish
• Develop the most effective indicators to assess welfare in fish
• Examine measures of water quality and their implications for fish
• Discuss the main welfare issues in fish farming
• Establish the best management guidelines for fish to minimize suffering
• Examine the welfare of fish during capture in both farmed and commercial fisheries
• Determine the welfare of aquarium fish

A path to achieve specialization and professional growth that will propel you towards a greater level of competitiveness in the employment market”