Washington Update
FASEB Supports NIH OLAW’s Proposed Guidance for Cephalopod Care and Use
By: Naomi CharalambakisWednesday, December 20, 2023
On December 7, FASEB submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) in response to its Request for Information (NOT-OD-23-176) regarding proposed guidance for cephalopod research. The guidance states that assured institutions are expected to ensure that cephalopod activities are subject to review by oversight bodies such as Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs).
In its comments, FASEB expresses support for IACUC oversight of cephalopods, but notes that commensurate support is needed to address outstanding knowledge gaps in cephalopod biology and welfare. To achieve this, FASEB recommends a two-pronged approach to complement OLAW’s proposed guidance:
- Creating cephalopod-specific training resources for IACUCs, attending veterinarians, and other relevant animal care staff.
- Establishing dedicated funding mechanisms for investigators to study cephalopod welfare and refinement.
Finally, FASEB emphasizes that the absence of research and funding mechanisms to study cephalopod welfare will prohibit institutions from adjusting policies and practices in accordance with the latest science, as required by the proposed guidance. Therefore, FASEB suggests OLAW work with the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs to develop funding mechanisms that address key scientific gaps in the field, including analgesics and other refinement techniques, housing standards, pain perception, and species-specific socialization needs.