Pacific salmon face welfare challenges across their life cycle, from the physical demands of migration to the crowding and disease pressure of aquaculture operations.
Pacific salmon face welfare challenges at multiple life stages. Wild salmon migrating upstream navigate dam systems, degraded habitat, warm water temperatures, and depleted food sources. The physiological demands of the spawning migration are extreme and the death that follows is a natural part of their biology, but human-induced stressors make these final stages more difficult. Farmed salmon suffer welfare problems including overcrowding, sea lice, disease, and inability to express migratory behavior. Sea lice from farms parasitize wild juvenile salmon, affecting their welfare and survival.