Interpretive Summary: Charting a course on the effects of ocean and sea transportation stress on cattle and sheep body weight changes, behavior, and nutrient mobilization

By: Caleb C Reichhardt, Taya J Blad, Yunuen Bustamante, Jenee S Odani, Melelani A Oshiro, Jesus A Rojas-Reyes

Implications

• There is limited information available regarding the sea and ocean transport of cattle and sheep. However, it is a vital part of global livestock industries and island communities.
• Animals that start the voyages in better body condition scores are more capable of dealing with the stresses of ocean and sea transport.
• It appears that following short-duration ocean transport, cattle take twice as long to reach their pre-transportation body weight compared to that of road-transported cattle.
• Future research is warranted to evaluate pre- and post-voyage management of cattle and sheep to improve animal welfare, weight recovery, and meat quality.

Introduction

Transportation is a necessary part of ruminant livestock production, with most animals being transported at least once in their lifetime, if not more frequently. Livestock are transported for a variety of reasons, including growing and finishing, harvesting, acquiring new genetics, and show purposes. However, transportation can be a potential stressor for livestock that can impact skeletal muscle, growth, and meat quality (Dalmau et al., 2013; Deters and Hansen, 2022). While most research investigating animal transport has been related to road transport (Schwartzkopf-Genswein and Grandin, 2014; Schwartzkopf-Genswein et al., 2016; Deters and Hansen, 2020), air and ocean transport remains underexplored. Limited information is available surrounding either air or ocean transport of cattle and sheep, though these methods are known to cause stress-related events (Sy et al., 2014). Despite the limited research that has been conducted on ocean transport of livestock, legislation has been introduced in the United States, Hawaii specifically, Australia, and the European Union to regulate live animal ocean transport. These policies are not adequately supported by science, highlighting the need for more research to be conducted in this area to develop best management practices for shipping livestock by ocean and sea.

Read the full article in Animal Frontiers, Factors Affecting Animal Growth.