Selective breeding in Atlantic salmon aquaculture has dramatically increased growth rates with potential welfare trade-offs. Incorporating welfare traits into breeding goals is an emerging priority.
Salmon genetic selection and welfare parallels the concerns about fast-growing broiler chickens but with less public awareness. Rapid growth in salmon has been associated with increased spinal deformity rates, cataracts, and potentially reduced immune resilience. Vertebral compression and malformations cause chronic pain in affected fish. Unlike broiler chickens where the severity of welfare compromise is dramatic and well-documented, the welfare impact of rapid salmon growth is more subtle and less thoroughly characterized. Incorporating welfare traits explicitly into selective breeding goals — spinal health, immune function, cataract rate, cardiovascular fitness — alongside production traits represents a promising approach to improving systemic welfare through genetic rather than solely management means.