Monitoring and Improving Atlantic Salmon Welfare

Atlantic salmon welfare in aquaculture is multidimensional and requires systematic monitoring across biological, behavioural, and environmental indicators.

Key Facts

Atlantic salmon are the most commercially important farmed fish species in Europe
Norway produces over 1.3 million tonnes of farmed Atlantic salmon annually
Welfare indicators include lice burden, wound prevalence, fin condition, and cataract incidence
Cataract rates in farmed salmon can reach 80-100% in some operations, impairing vision and feeding
The Norwegian Salmon Welfare Index aggregates multiple indicators into a single score

Welfare Considerations

Atlantic salmon welfare is affected by sea lice, crowding stress, handling, vaccination injury, cataracts, and slaughter methods. Crowding during net pen operations suppresses immune function and increases aggression. Cataracts impair the ability to see and capture feed, causing chronic undernutrition. Systematic welfare monitoring across all operations is essential to identify problems and drive improvement. Consumer-facing welfare scores would drive market-based welfare improvement.

What You Can Do

Choose salmon certified by schemes with welfare monitoring requirements
Support development of consumer-facing salmon welfare labels
Advocate for mandatory welfare index reporting for all salmon farms
Support research into cataract prevention and welfare-friendly husbandry practices