Salmon welfare research has traditionally focused on identifying and reducing negative welfare states. A positive welfare approach asks a different question: what environmental conditions, social dynamics, and experiences constitute a genuinely good day for a farmed salmon?
Positive welfare for farmed salmon requires imagining what an enriched, fulfilling aquatic life could look like for a cognitively active fish in a commercial setting. The constraint is real: net pen and RAS production prioritises biomass efficiency over individual experience. But even within commercial constraints, meaningful improvements are possible: water current variation that allows salmon to seek preferred swimming speeds; feeding presentation that requires active prey-catching behaviour rather than passive consumption; visual complexity through partial enclosure structures; and social density management that preserves shoal cohesion without aggression-inducing crowding. These are not luxuries but welfare investments with production co-benefits — actively engaged, low-stress salmon have better immune function, lower aggression-related fin damage, and more consistent growth. The emerging field of salmon positive welfare indicators provides the measurement tools to assess whether these conditions produce genuine welfare improvement rather than just welfare-positive inputs.