Selective breeding programs for farmed Atlantic salmon are improving disease resistance, reducing sea lice susceptibility, and selecting for behavioral welfare indicators. Genetics is a powerful welfare tool.
Genetic approaches to salmon welfare offer the prospect of animals that are inherently more resilient to the conditions of commercial aquaculture, reducing the need for medical interventions and the welfare costs of disease. This is a fundamentally different approach from managing disease and welfare problems as they arise in animals not suited to their conditions. Breeding salmon for lice resistance, disease tolerance, and behavioral welfare indicators shifts the welfare improvement into the genetics rather than the management system, potentially achieving better welfare at lower cost than ongoing medical intervention programs. The welfare potential of genetics is significant but must be balanced against maintaining genetic diversity and avoiding unintended consequences of strong selection pressure.