Atlantic salmon farming is one of the most scrutinized aquaculture sectors for welfare. A comprehensive understanding of welfare challenges and solutions helps consumers and advocates engage effectively.
Atlantic salmon welfare encompasses the full arc of production from hatchery through grow-out to harvest, with distinct welfare challenges at each stage. Hatchery welfare involves appropriate temperature, density, and nutrition for juvenile development. Sea water transfer stress — smoltification and the physiological demands of seawater adaptation — requires careful management. In sea cage grow-out, the primary ongoing welfare challenges are sea lice infestation, bacterial and viral disease, crowding stress, and the welfare of cleaner fish used for biological lice control. Harvest involves crowding, pumping, fasting, and slaughter — a cascade of sequential stressors that best practice minimizes through low-density crowding, adequate oxygenation, and percussive stunning at slaughter. The Norwegian welfare framework is the most developed globally for farmed salmon, but implementation quality varies considerably across the industry. Consumer pressure through certification choices and retailer engagement is a significant driver of welfare improvement in a sector highly responsive to export market expectations.