Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI)

Background

The Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) is an advocacy group that provides research and development as well as hands-on programming towards improving the welfare of farmed fish in locations such as India, China, and the Philippines. FWI claims its work provides solutions to issues such as fish overcrowding, poor water quality, disease, and mistreatment. ¹

Animal advocates Haven King-Nobles and Tom Billington launched the FWI in 2019 with an initial $50,000 from Charity Entrepreneurship. The original intent was to provide fish welfare to improve “environmental sustainability, business resiliency, and global health.” ⁴

FWI conducts research and development towards identifying opportunities to improve farmed fish welfare and works directly with farmers, corporations, and policymakers to promote higher welfare standards. ⁵ It aligns its work with several of the the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). ⁶

Advocacy

The Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI) does most of its work in India, conducting field research to identify opportunities for fish welfare projects. As of 2025, research projects carried out by the FWI include monitoring water quality remotely by leveraging satellite imagery, assessing feed quality, and developing more humane slaughter methods such as pre-slaughter stunning. It previously established the Alliance for Responsible Agriculture to work with local farmers to implement fish welfare improvements. ^{7 8  9  10}

The FWI advocates for policy changes in India with the Animal Welfare Board of India, fisheries departments of India’s federal states, and the Bureau of Indian Standards. ¹¹ In January 2025 the FWI sponsored an Innovation Challenge offering $10,000 to develop a successful remote sensing technology model for water quality monitoring. ¹²

In China the Fish Welfare Initiative has developed a partnership with the International Cooperation Committee of Animal Welfare. It co-hosted the first Aquatic Animal Welfare Forum at the World Conference on Farm Animal Welfare in China and participated in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Through its research it has identified specific fish species for further welfare interventions. ^{13  14}

In the Philippines the Fish Welfare Initiative conducted research beginning in 2020, published a scoping report funded by World Animal Protection and Open Philanthropy, and in January 2021 hosted a webinar to discuss opportunities to improve fish welfare. ¹⁵ It established an educational program for fish farmers that includes seminars, field application, and advocacy. This resulted in the creation of the Carmen Fishcage Association and new local regulations on farmer certification. ¹⁶

Funding

The majority of 2024 revenues for the Fish Welfare Initiative were from donations from Animal Charity Evaluators, the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund, and Open Philanthropy. It also received about 300 smaller donations from individuals. ²

The Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund, a global grantmaking organization that focuses on animal welfare, has granted the Fish Welfare Initiative $180,000 since 2021. ¹⁷

Previous donors include the Humane America Animal Foundation, the Effective Ventures Foundation, the Players Philanthropy Fund, RSF Social Finance, and several donor-advised fund providers including the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the Network for Good, the American Online Giving Foundation, and Donor Advised Charitable Giving. ³

Leadership

Animal advocate Haven King-Nobles is the co-founder, executive director, and a board member for the Fish Welfare Initiative. King-Nobles graduated from Oberlin College with bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and computer science. Before joining the FWI he was an intern for the Humane League and Mercy For Animals and established an Effective Altruism organization at Oberlin College. ^{18  4}

Tom Billington is co-founder and a FWI board member. He is a graduate of Southampton University. While there he founded the Southampton Effective Altruism Society and interned for Charity Entrepreneurship. ⁴

Laura Gough is board president of the Fish Welfare Initiative. She is a global project impact manager at Anima International. ^{2  19}

Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund chair Karolina Sarek was an advisor and board member of the Fish Welfare Initiative and the Shrimp Welfare Project until February 2025. Previously she was the co-founder, co-executive director, then board member of Ambitious Impact, formerly known as Charity Entrepreneurship, which has launched more than 40 charities since 2018, including the Fish Welfare Initiative. ^{20  21}