Atlantic cod aquaculture is expanding as wild stocks recover. Developing welfare standards proactively for farmed cod enables better outcomes than the reactive approach taken for salmon decades earlier.
Farmed cod welfare presents an opportunity to establish good practices early in industry development rather than retrofitting welfare standards onto an established system. The experience with salmon — where intensive production scaled before welfare standards were developed, requiring costly subsequent reform — provides a cautionary model. For cod, welfare science on optimal density, handling frequency, light management, and pre-slaughter stunning is available before production reaches scale. The proactive development of welfare standards based on this knowledge represents the welfare-ideal approach to new aquaculture species. Consumer interest in sustainable seafood provides market incentives that can be aligned with welfare standards to drive uptake.