Farmed Salmon Lice Cleaner Fish Welfare

Cleaner fish including wrasse and lumpfish used to control sea lice in salmon farms have their own welfare requirements that are frequently inadequately met in commercial applications.

Key Facts

Wrasse and lumpfish are placed in salmon pens to eat sea lice as a biological control method
Cleaner fish are often sourced from wild capture rather than aquaculture, adding population pressure
Wrasse require specific habitat structure including kelp and shelter that bare net pens do not provide
Cleaner fish mortality in salmon pens can exceed 50% due to injury, disease, and unsuitable conditions
Welfare standards for cleaner fish lag significantly behind those for the salmon they service

Welfare Considerations

The adoption of cleaner fish as a biological control for sea lice was a genuine advance in salmon welfare but created a new welfare problem for wrasse and lumpfish. These small fish are placed in large salmon pens where they are out-competed for food, injured by larger salmon, and denied the complex habitat structure they require. Mortality rates are frequently very high. Treating cleaner fish as consumable inputs rather than animals with welfare needs reflects a failure to extend the precautionary welfare principle beyond the primary farmed species. Improving cleaner fish welfare requires better sourcing, habitat provision within pens, and welfare monitoring.

What You Can Do

Support salmon certifications that include welfare standards for cleaner fish
Advocate for regulatory requirements addressing cleaner fish welfare in salmon aquaculture permits
Choose salmon from producers with documented cleaner fish welfare programs
Support research into improving cleaner fish habitat provision and welfare in commercial salmon pen conditions