How welfare scientists monitor stress in farmed salmon using behavioral and physiological indicators.
Monitoring salmon welfare at commercial scale requires practical, reliable indicators that can be assessed without excessive handling. Welfare scientists have developed a toolkit of both outcome-based indicators — health and injury metrics assessed during routine events — and behavioral indicators that can be observed through underwater cameras without fish disturbance. The challenge is translating welfare science into industry practice. Farms that adopt welfare monitoring frameworks consistently improve outcomes, partly because measurement creates accountability and enables targeted interventions. Government regulation increasingly requires welfare monitoring in major salmon-producing nations, creating an incentive structure for adoption across the industry.