Atlantic cod aquaculture faces specific welfare challenges including high rates of skeletal deformities associated with intensive hatchery practices, and chronic spinal conditions that impair quality of life throughout the production cycle.
Cod aquaculture deformity rates represent a welfare problem that is simultaneously an economic problem — deformed fish grow slower, feed less efficiently, and command lower market prices. This alignment between welfare and economics provides strong incentive for deformity prevention, which research has shown can be substantially reduced through modifications to larval rearing conditions. The challenge is that intensive larval rearing practices that increase early growth rates also increase deformity risk, requiring a trade-off between growth speed and skeletal health that welfare considerations should influence toward longer, healthier rearing approaches.