Aquaculture

Farmed Salmon Lice Treatment Welfare

Sea lice treatments used in salmon aquaculture cause significant stress and mortality, raising welfare concerns beyond the lice themselves.

Key Facts

Thermal and mechanical delousing causes mortality rates up to 2%
Repeated treatments stress fish immune systems cumulatively
Lice cause lesions, anemia and reduced feeding in untreated fish
Cleaner fish used in biological lice control also face welfare concerns

Welfare Considerations

Sea lice management represents a welfare dilemma: lice infestation causes suffering, but many treatments are themselves harmful. The systemic use of chemical and mechanical treatments at scale causes enormous aggregate suffering. Selective breeding for lice resistance offers a potential long-term solution.

What You Can Do

Support research on lice-resistant salmon genetics
Choose salmon certified by programs with robust lice management welfare standards
Advocate for limits on chemical treatments per production cycle
Reduce consumption of conventionally farmed Atlantic salmon