With continued population growth, potentially negative impacts of climate change, and potential impacts of food access and security among poorer and more vulnerable communities fish as food resource is becoming more and more important. The growing recognition of fish as sentient beings must be considered in tandem with other concerns such as the relative weighting of their welfare, human equity, environmental protection, food security and food safety. Sensible environmental practices are needed and must be tied closely to effective policies around food security as well as regulation that take into account the issues of fish welfare. We suggest a pragmatic virtue ethics approach would be relevant and fundamental for such policies – both regarding process and substance – and show how it can contribute to the discussion on how to relate fish welfare to environmental concern and the issue of equity in a more secure global food system.