Sea lice monitoring in salmon farming generates welfare data that is increasingly subject to transparency requirements. Public reporting enables consumer and regulatory accountability.
Salmon lice monitoring transparency in Norway demonstrates the welfare benefits of mandatory public data disclosure. When lice count data is publicly available at site level, chronic problem farms are identifiable, creating reputational and regulatory pressure for improvement. The extension of transparency requirements to treatment frequency would provide a more complete welfare picture — a farm that exceeds thresholds and treats frequently imposes greater welfare burden on fish than lice count data alone reveals. Consumer access to site-level welfare data enables purchasing decisions that reward better-performing producers. This model is transferable to other aquaculture welfare indicators.