Atlantic cod aquaculture is expanding as wild cod stocks remain depleted, but the welfare of farmed cod and other white fish receives minimal regulatory attention despite growing evidence of fish sentience.
White fish aquaculture including cod farming occupies a regulatory and welfare science gap. Unlike salmon, which has attracted significant welfare research and some certification coverage, cod and other white fish species are farmed with minimal species-specific welfare guidance. The assumption that fish welfare matters less than mammal welfare is increasingly at odds with the scientific literature, which documents pain responses, stress physiology, and cognitive abilities across teleost species. As cod aquaculture scales up, the welfare infrastructure — research, standards, certification, and regulatory oversight — needs to keep pace rather than repeat the trajectory of salmon farming, where welfare problems were addressed reactively after large-scale production was already established.