How selective breeding for lice resistance could transform salmon welfare by reducing treatment burdens and lice-associated suffering.
Genetic selection for sea lice resistance represents a long-term welfare solution to one of the most significant welfare problems in salmon farming. Current management depends heavily on chemical treatments with their own welfare costs, and biological controls with poor cleaner fish welfare. A salmon that is genuinely resistant to sea lice attachment would eliminate both the direct welfare harm of lice and the welfare costs of treatment. Breeding programs take time to produce population-level effects, requiring sustained investment and a long-term perspective from the aquaculture industry.