Escaped farmed salmon face severe welfare challenges as naive hatchery fish attempt to survive in wild environments they are not adapted for.
Escaped farmed salmon welfare reveals an underappreciated dimension of aquaculture welfare — the fate of fish that leave containment. Hatchery-selected salmon adapted for farm conditions face immediate welfare challenges in wild environments, including inability to effectively locate natural prey, navigate using magnetic and olfactory cues, and avoid predation. Starvation over days to weeks as fish fail to adapt to wild foraging is a significant welfare concern. Prevention of escape through improved net technology and monitoring is both a conservation and welfare intervention. The welfare suffering of escaped fish is a hidden cost of current open net pen aquaculture that improved containment technology can address.