Aquaculture

Farmed Salmon Sea Pen Welfare

Open-sea pen salmon farming exposes fish to sea lice, jellyfish blooms, harmful algal events, and crowding stress.

Key Facts

Sea lice infestations cause painful skin lesions and fin damage
Jellyfish bloom mortality events kill millions of salmon annually
Dissolved oxygen levels drop in crowded pens during warm weather
Sea cage salmon have limited ability to escape environmental stressors

Welfare Considerations

Open-sea pen salmon face multiple simultaneous welfare threats including parasites, jellyfish injury, crowding, and environmental stress. The inability to escape these stressors distinguishes farm welfare from wild fish welfare, where escape options exist.

What You Can Do

Support closed-containment land-based salmon farming as a welfare improvement
Advocate for sea lice treatment standards that minimize lice load
Reduce consumption of open-sea pen salmon
Back research into sea pen conditions that minimize jellyfish and harmful algal exposure