Coho salmon farming in the Americas presents specific welfare challenges related to their behavioral ecology and physiological requirements.
Coho salmon welfare in aquaculture faces species-specific challenges related to their naturally territorial behavior. Unlike Atlantic salmon, which tend toward shoaling, coho salmon are more aggressive when crowded, leading to fin damage and injury at densities manageable for Atlantic salmon. This creates a tension between economic production density and behavioral welfare that requires coho-specific density management. Sea lice present welfare challenges in sea cage production that parallel those for Atlantic salmon, with the additional complication that treatment methods and thresholds developed for Atlantic salmon may not be directly applicable to coho. Welfare science for coho salmon is less developed than for Atlantic salmon, creating a need for species-specific research.