Decades of selective breeding in Atlantic salmon aquaculture have created fish with dramatically different characteristics from wild salmon, with welfare trade-offs requiring ongoing assessment.
The welfare implications of salmon selective breeding are complex and evolving. Early breeding programs prioritized growth rate, creating fish prone to specific health problems - cataracts, heart disease, and bone deformities are welfare concerns linked to the genetic selection for fast growth. Modern programs increasingly incorporate welfare traits explicitly, recognizing that disease-resistant, stress-resilient fish produce better welfare outcomes and better product quality simultaneously. The genetic divergence between farmed and wild salmon raises ecological welfare questions about escaped fish and their genetic impact on wild populations whose fitness and adaptive capacity may be compromised.