Selective breeding of farmed salmon has created genetic divergence from wild populations with welfare implications. Understanding these tradeoffs informs both production and conservation policy.
The genetics of farmed salmon represent a welfare intervention point that has historically been overlooked. Selective breeding for growth rate has created fish that may face analogous problems to fast-growing broiler chickens — skeletal systems that cannot keep pace with muscle and organ development. Including welfare traits like stress response, skeletal health, and disease resistance in breeding programs represents a systems-level intervention that benefits all fish rather than requiring individual treatment of problems created by genetics. Conservation concerns about escaped farmed salmon interbreeding with wild populations connect aquaculture genetics to broader ecosystem welfare.