Guidance on the severity classification of scientific procedures involving fish: Report of a Working Group appointed by the Norwegian Consensus-Platform for the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animal experiments (Norecopa)

Abstract

The severity classification of procedures using animals is an important tool to help focus the implementation of refinement and to assist in reporting the application of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement). The recently revised Directive that regulates animal research and testing within the European Union requires Member States to ensure that all procedures are classified as ‘non-recovery’, ‘mild’, ‘moderate’ or ‘severe’, using assignment criteria set out by the European Commission (EC). However, these are focused upon terrestrial species, so are of limited relevance to fish users. A Working Group set up by the Norwegian Consensus-Platform for the 3Rs (Norecopa) has produced guidance on the classification of severity in scientific procedures involving fish, including examples of ‘subthreshold’, ‘mild’, ‘moderate’, ‘severe’ and ‘upper threshold’ procedures. The aims are to complement the EC guidelines and help to ensure that suffering in fish is effectively predicted and minimized. Norecopa has established a website () where more information on severity classification for procedures using fish, including field research, will be made available.

Guidelines for the Care and Welfare of Cephalopods in Research –A consensus based on an initiative by CephRes, FELASA and the Boyd Group

“…The use of 'score sheets' for monitoring can be particularly helpful in determining when humane end-points have been reached, and when severity limits are being approached. 384 To be effective, this monitoring requires a team approach, with good planning, and appropriate training for all involved. Methods for the observation and assessment of adverse effects are relatively well developed for many vertebrate species including fish.…”

“…Methods for the observation and assessment of adverse effects are relatively well developed for many vertebrate species including fish. [384][385][386][387] There is a need for further development of objective criteria for assessing severity that can be used by the entire EU cephalopod community to ensure consistency. This is a current project of the non-profit Association for Cephalopod Research (see www.cepha lopodresearch.org/projects).…”

“…An equivalent initiative has been set up for describing characteristics of laboratory mice (http://www.mousewelfareterms.org/ doku.php), 8 and and for severity classification classification of scientific procedures involving fish. 384…”

Cephalopods in neuroscience: regulations, research and the 3Rs

“…Refinement of current best practice in the care and welfare assessment of the various cephalopod species will evolve by research to provide evidence to support changes of approach and technique that reduce adverse effects and maybe informed by approaches to refining procedures commonly carried out on laboratory vertebrates (Hawkins et al 2011a). For experimental procedures, refinement requires the researcher to carefully examine their protocols and see where changes in can be made in any aspect likely to cause PSDLH to reduce adverse effects whilst achieving the scientific outcome.…”

The Digestive Tract of Cephalopods: a Neglected Topic of Relevance to Animal Welfare in the Laboratory and Aquaculture

“…The behavioural or other externally visible consequences of food deprivation are not well defined as indicated by the paucity of specific information in the last row (see text for details). Note that this table illustrates the principles and National Competent Authorities may have different views on severity and the above proposed classification requires validation .* “EU 2010” and “EC 2013” are abbreviations of European Parliament and Council of the European Union (2010) and European Commission (2013), respectively .** For comparison in an adult salmonid 48 food deprivation would be considered to be below the regulatory threshold but it is also noted that as in cephalopods there is considerable inter-species variation (Hawkins et al, 2011) .+ For comparison in adult rats, food deprivation of <24 h would be classified as mild and deprivation for 48 h as moderate (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2010) .# In O. vulgaris Garcia-Garrido et al (2010) reported death at 16, 20, and 23 days of food deprivation .…”