Who's the Real Predator? A Look Into Alligator Farming.

• Date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Guarcello, Scott

Recognized as the official state reptile of Florida, (1) American alligators have long been harvested for their hides and meat. Restrictions on alligator hunting during the early part of the 1900s were almost nonexistent (2) and by the 1950s, demand for hides and uncontrolled hunting--among other contributing factors--almost led to their extinction. (3) As a result, the American alligator was added to the endangered species list in 1967. (4) Due to the resulting heightened restrictions on hunting, alligator populations recovered enough by 1987 to be downgraded from endangered to threatened. (5) Gaining global recognition and heightened regulatory oversight, the alligator hunting industry stands in contrast to the relatively overlooked farmed alligator industry, particularly regarding animal welfare.

The first commercial alligator farm in Florida was opened in the 1890s. (6) Despite the American alligators' near-brush with modern-day extinction, demand for their hides and meat has persisted over the decades. Almost contemporaneous with the Endangered Species Act's (ESA) rollback of protections was the inception of indoor controlled farming in the 1980s, which allowed separation from hunting where market-ready alligators could be grown in less than two years. Consequently, there was a "rapid expansion of the [alligator farming] industry." (7) According to the Bureau of Seafood and Aquaculture Marketing, there are about 28 alligator farms operating in Florida today. (8) In 2021, Florida's alligator farms produced over 37,000 alligator hides. (9) Notwithstanding the industry's growth and relative success, it has few controlling regulations concerning welfare protections for farmed alligators, both at the federal and state level. (10) Federal regulations like the Animal Welfare Act, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA), and the Anti-Cruelty Act all omit protections concerning farmed alligators. Also, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not expressly provide any safeguards even though it requires analysis of potential food safety hazards of aquatic animals (like alligators) "before, during, and after harvest," which arguably could open a door for welfare considerations. (11)

Similarly, while Florida provides detailed regulations regarding farmed alligators that largely concern permitting, lawful "taking," and accounting of inventories, such regulations make only scant mention of humane treatment. F.S. [section][section]379.3751 and 379.3752 directly address requirements for licenses and tags, and the Florida Administrative Code (FAC) provides comprehensive alligator farm operations regulations. (12) The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) also provides various publications regarding suggested farming practices predicated on improving commercial efficiencies surrounding production and harvest. (13) Although not a chief concern of these regulations, FAC 68A-25.042 notably provides that alligator rearing tanks should ensure "humane confinement" and the FWC--faithful to a commercial justification--recommends that slaughter of aquatic animals, i.e., alligators, "be performed quickly and in a manner to limit the stress to the animal," which helps to retain the commercial value of alligator hides and meat. (14)

Farmed Alligators and Animal Welfare

"[A]nimal welfare is the idea that...animals must be protected against abuse and ensured humane treatment...." (15) An oft cited driver of animal welfare laws is whether a particular animal exhibits traits of sentience. (16) Fundamentally, sentience "confers a capacity to consciously perceive negative and/or positive sensations, feelings, emotions, or other subjective experiences which matter to the animal." (17) A broad spectrum of animals have been studied and shown to exhibit traits of sentience, ranging from chimpanzees (18) to rats. (19) However, "alligators...have received far less attention in the scientific literature than mammals, and knowledge of their cognitive and behavioral responses to stressors is still fairly limited...and neglected in the animal welfare...literature." (20)

Nonetheless, alligators have been shown to express customary indicia of sentience readily observed through signs of distress in circumstances often associated with the farm lifecycle like slaughter and captivity.(21) Alligators have even demonstrated a capacity for play. (22) Notably, a number of countries' laws recognize alligators' capacity to feel fear, pain, and joy. (23) Among those is the United Kingdom's Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill, which requires animal sentience to be considered when developing governmental policies. (24)

Humane Treatment at Slaughter

After The Jungle (25) novel was published in 1905, depicting conditions in slaughterhouses, the ensuing public outcry led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the Federal Meat Inspection Act.(26) Later, the HMSA was enacted to ensure federal compliance with animal welfare for the humane slaughter of livestock. (27)

Passed in 1961, Florida's Humane Slaughter Act (FLHSA) (28) requires "that the slaughter of all livestock and the handling of livestock in connection with slaughter be carried out only by humane methods...." (29) Humane slaughter is defined by Florida statute as "a method whereby the animal is rapidly and effectively rendered insensitive to pain by electrical or chemical means or by a penetrating captive bolt or gunshot with appropriate caliber and placement." (30) Among others, FLHSA finds that the "use of humane methods in the killing of livestock prevents needless suffering...." (31 The FLHSA establishes basic humane slaughter standards that must not be less restrictive than those established by its federal counterpart and can help to ensure...