Aquatic Animals

Salmon Cleaner Fish Welfare

Wrasse and lumpfish used as cleaner fish in salmon farming have welfare needs that are largely unmet in current production systems.

Key Facts

Millions of wrasse and lumpfish are deployed in salmon farms annually to eat sea lice
Cleaner fish mortality rates in salmon farms are often extremely high — up to 50-90%
Cleaner fish require specific habitat structures and feed that farms often do not provide
Wild wrasse collection supplements farmed supply, raising conservation concerns

Welfare Considerations

Cleaner fish have been introduced into salmon aquaculture at enormous scale with inadequate attention to their own welfare. Wrasse are reef fish that need complex habitat structures; placed in open salmon pen environments without shelter, they suffer and die rapidly. Lumpfish are similarly poorly understood. The welfare of these animals has been almost completely overlooked in their deployment as biological pest control tools.

What You Can Do

Support research into cleaner fish welfare requirements
Advocate for welfare standards specific to cleaner fish species in salmon farming
Choose salmon certified to standards that address cleaner fish welfare
Support development of non-biological sea lice control alternatives