Genetic narrowing in farmed salmon due to selective breeding has welfare implications through increased disease susceptibility and inbreeding depression. Maintaining genetic diversity supports long-term population health.
Salmon genetic welfare connects individual welfare to population-level genetic health. Narrow genetic bases in farmed populations increase susceptibility to novel pathogens — low genetic diversity in immune genes reduces the range of immune responses available to the population. When disease strikes genetically uniform populations, the consequences can be catastrophic for production and devastating for individual fish welfare through mass disease events. Genetic introgression from farmed escapees into wild populations reduces adaptive genetic diversity in wild salmon that have evolved specific local adaptations. Conservation of genetic diversity in both farmed and wild salmon populations serves both production resilience and long-term welfare across both populations.