What research shows about Atlantic cod welfare needs and how the industry is beginning to address them as farming expands.
Atlantic cod welfare science is at an earlier stage than salmon welfare research, yet the species is being farmed at increasing scale without equivalent welfare standards. The welfare challenges of cod farming are substantive: high juvenile aggression requiring careful density management, cannibalism during early rearing, sensitivity to water quality parameters, and harvest methods that have not been optimised for welfare. Learning from the welfare mistakes made in early salmon aquaculture development, rather than repeating them at increasing scale with cod, requires proactive welfare science investment and willingness to implement findings before they become commercially necessary rather than after.