Assessing and improving welfare in farmed salmon requires operational welfare indicators that can be measured on-farm to guide management decisions and identify welfare problems early.
Welfare assessment in salmon aquaculture has advanced significantly with development of validated operational welfare indicators. Unlike terrestrial farming, direct behavioral observation is challenging at scale, making physical indicators particularly important. High lice burdens and crowding-associated injuries represent significant welfare costs across the industry. Mortality rates in the high teens annually represent millions of fish experiencing compromised welfare before death. The industry faces genuine challenges scaling individual welfare assessment across populations of millions of fish.