Establishment of a Global Pharmacology Council to optimize and standardize in vivo models and secure full integration of the 3 Rs in decision making processes in a global research unit

Early milestones in the advancement of clinical fish welfare and welfare science include the first use of MS 222 by R. Schoettgerat the Wisconsin Sports Fishing Laboratory in the 1960s and the behavioural assays on carp by J. Verheijen in the Netherlands in the 1970s and 80s. The latter remained relatively obscure but re-emerged in the 1990s and 2000s after the publication of studies by L. Sneddon, F. Huntingford, V. Braithwaite and others linking new findings on behavioural ecology of fish with are appraisal of their welfare needs. The resulting shift in the perception offish sentience has triggered a perennial debate on the capacity of fishes for higher conscience with the detractors mainly quoting an antiquated speciesist paradigm. Over the last five years new advances have come through on the aversiveness of common fish anaesthetics, on utility of environmental enrichment and, more recently, the use of immersion analgesics in fish procedures. Ongoing studies explore anaesthetic efficacy and new setups incorporating sedative pre-medication. It is hoped that the knowledge gained through the laboratory refinement drive will benefit fish welfare in all areas. VIII-1-681