Atlantic halibut is one of the most challenging fish to farm due to its slow growth, complex dietary needs, and welfare sensitivities in intensive systems.
Atlantic halibut welfare in aquaculture intersects with the significant production challenges of farming a slow-growing, light-sensitive, and behaviorally complex species. Malpigmentation is both a production problem and a welfare indicator — it reflects suboptimal rearing conditions in early life that affect the fish's development and, likely, its physiological state. Aggression at high stocking densities causes ongoing physical injury and stress. The long production cycle means welfare investments — or welfare failures — compound over years rather than months. As the industry develops, welfare science appropriate to halibut's specific biology and behavior needs to be integrated from the start rather than retroactively.