Disease is a major welfare and production challenge in aquaculture. Understanding how disease management decisions affect fish welfare helps advocates push for more humane practices.
Disease management in aquaculture sits at the intersection of welfare and production: sick fish suffer, and disease also reduces economic returns. The alignment of welfare and production incentives has driven significant progress — Norwegian salmon vaccination programs demonstrated that preventing disease is more profitable than treating it, while dramatically reducing antibiotic use and fish suffering. The welfare challenge lies in recognizing that overcrowding and environmental stressors that drive disease outbreaks are themselves welfare problems, not just biosecurity failures. A welfare-centered approach to aquaculture disease focuses on prevention through environmental quality and selective breeding, backed by rapid detection and humane treatment when disease occurs.