Technology-based welfare monitoring in salmon aquaculture enables continuous assessment of fish behaviour and health indicators at a scale impossible through manual observation alone.
Technology-based welfare monitoring represents one of the most promising developments for improving welfare at the enormous scale of salmon aquaculture. Manual welfare assessment of hundreds of thousands of fish in large sea cages is practically impossible with the frequency needed to detect early welfare deterioration. Automated systems that continuously monitor behavioural indicators, detect lice infestations before they reach welfare-compromising levels, and identify mortality early enable a level of welfare management that human observation alone cannot provide. The welfare benefit depends on the quality of the indicators being measured and whether the technology is used to genuinely improve welfare rather than primarily for production optimisation. Welfare-positive adoption requires validation of behavioural indicators against welfare outcomes and commitment to acting on the data the systems generate.