Selective breeding for disease resistance in Atlantic salmon offers a welfare-positive alternative to chemical treatments. Understanding the genetics of salmon immunity is transforming aquaculture practice.
Disease-resistant salmon genetics represent one of the most promising welfare improvements available to aquaculture. The logic is elegant: fish that are genetically less susceptible to common parasites and diseases need fewer stressful treatments, experience less disease-related suffering, and require fewer chemical interventions that may have environmental consequences. The welfare improvement is embedded in the animal, not dependent on management decisions at the farm level. Continued investment in resistance breeding, particularly for the highest-impact diseases, could transform the welfare profile of salmon farming over the coming decades.