Atlantic cod aquaculture has faced significant challenges including disease, welfare problems, and economic viability. Understanding these issues helps assess the future of cod farming welfare.
Farmed cod welfare has been compromised by persistent production challenges that reflect the difficulty of adapting a species evolved for cool, deep-water conditions to intensive aquaculture. Cataracts, which affect vision and therefore feeding behaviour and social interactions, represent a significant and widespread welfare problem that the industry has struggled to eliminate despite understanding the nutritional causes. Skeletal deformities cause physical discomfort and impaired swimming ability in affected fish. Aggression and cannibalism at high stocking densities require management through grading and density control that involves frequent stressful handling. The cumulative welfare burden of these challenges, alongside economic difficulties, has contributed to the limited commercial scale of cod aquaculture despite substantial research investment.