Sea lice treatment in salmon farming involves handling, thermal, and chemical interventions that cause significant acute welfare stress, driving development of lower-impact alternatives.
Sea lice management creates a welfare dilemma: the lice themselves cause welfare harm, but many treatment methods cause acute stress and injury. Thermal treatments at high temperatures cause cataracts in a significant proportion of treated fish, permanently impairing their visual welfare. Lower-impact approaches including cleaner fish, snorkel barriers preventing lice attachment, and selective breeding for lice resistance are being developed and deployed. The welfare impact of different treatment methods should be central to treatment protocol decisions.