Farmed Salmon Welfare Across the Production Cycle

Atlantic salmon farming is one of the world's largest aquaculture industries. Welfare challenges occur throughout the production cycle from egg to harvest.

Key Facts

Global Atlantic salmon aquaculture produces approximately 2.7 million tonnes annually, worth over $15 billion.
Sea lice infestations affect the majority of farmed salmon pens and cause painful skin damage.
Crowding stress, handling events, and sea lice treatments are the most significant acute welfare challenges.
Norway, Scotland, and Chile are the three largest salmon producing nations.
Salmon Welfare Index and other assessment tools are being developed to measure welfare across the production cycle.

Welfare Considerations

Salmon welfare is complex because individual welfare must be assessed across millions of fish simultaneously, and early signs of suffering in individual fish are easily missed in dense pen populations. Sea lice cause open lesions that impair osmoregulation and are a source of chronic pain. Chemical treatments for sea lice — including hydrogen peroxide baths — cause acute thermal and chemical stress. Crowding before harvest suppresses feeding, increases cortisol, and causes physical injury from scale loss. Pre-slaughter stunning quality is highly variable, with some operations still failing to achieve rapid insensibility. Welfare improvements require systemic change across the entire production chain.

What You Can Do

Choose farmed salmon certified under standards that specifically address welfare indicators.
Support research into biological sea lice control methods that reduce chemical treatment burdens.
Reduce consumption of farmed salmon or choose salmon from producers with transparent welfare reporting.
Advocate for mandatory welfare standards in salmon aquaculture regulations.
Support the development of welfare assessment tools specific to salmon production systems.