Salmon Cleaner Fish Welfare in Aquaculture

Cleaner fish deployed in salmon farming to control sea lice face severe welfare challenges that are largely ignored in the industry.

Key Facts

Wrasse (Labridae) and lumpfish are the primary cleaner fish species used in Norwegian and Scottish salmon farming
An estimated 60+ million cleaner fish are deployed in Norwegian salmon farming annually
Cleaner fish mortality rates in sea pens are extremely high — estimated 30-50% die within weeks of deployment
Wrasse are wild-caught from coastal reefs, depleting wild populations without welfare protections
Cleaner fish lack species-appropriate habitat in salmon net pens — no refugia, proper substrate, or conspecific shelter
Lumpfish can be farmed in hatcheries, reducing wild capture pressure but maintaining poor in-pen welfare
The Norwegian government has acknowledged cleaner fish welfare as a significant concern requiring regulatory attention

Welfare Considerations

Cleaner fish welfare represents one of the most glaring welfare blindspots in aquaculture. Millions of sentient fish are deployed into inappropriate environments, experience extreme mortality, and receive essentially no welfare consideration despite the salmon industry's increasing welfare awareness. The wild capture of wrasse from reef ecosystems causes welfare harm at capture and depletes ecologically important wild populations. Regulatory frameworks that require welfare standards for salmon have not been extended to the cleaner fish that serve them. Addressing cleaner fish welfare requires species-appropriate shelter in sea pens, limits on wild wrasse capture, and investment in hatchery production systems that maintain better welfare conditions.

What You Can Do

Support salmon certification schemes that include cleaner fish welfare requirements
Advocate for regulatory extension of fish welfare standards to cleaner fish species
Support research into alternatives to live cleaner fish including mechanical delousing systems
Choose salmon from farms with documented cleaner fish welfare programs where available