Aquaculture Cleaner Fish Welfare

Wrasse and lumpfish are deployed on salmon farms to control sea lice biologically, but their welfare is poorly protected and mortality rates are extremely high.

Key Facts

Around 30 million cleaner fish are deployed annually on Norwegian salmon farms
Ballan wrasse and goldsinny wrasse are wild-caught or farm-raised for lice cleaning
Lumpfish are increasingly used as they are more tolerant of cage conditions
Mortality rates of cleaner fish are estimated at 70-90% over a production cycle
No specific welfare standards exist for cleaner fish in most jurisdictions

Welfare Considerations

Cleaner fish are deployed into salmon cages to eat sea lice from the salmon, providing a biological alternative to chemical treatments. However, the welfare of the cleaner fish themselves is almost entirely neglected. Wrasse in particular are wild-caught complex-behaving fish whose welfare needs are poorly understood and almost certainly unmet in salmon cage conditions — they hide, experience predation risk, and face conditions completely different from their natural rocky reef habitats. Mortality rates of 70-90% represent enormous numbers of fish dying. The welfare-positive approach requires welfare standards for cleaner fish, research into their needs, and development of conditions that allow genuine welfare provision.

What You Can Do

Support campaigns for mandatory welfare standards for cleaner fish in salmon aquaculture
Advocate for research into cleaner fish welfare needs and appropriate husbandry
Choose salmon from farms with documented cleaner fish welfare protocols
Support development of non-biological sea lice control methods that avoid cleaner fish use
Reduce farmed salmon consumption to reduce the scale of cleaner fish welfare problems