Atlantic salmon farming is the world's most economically important fish aquaculture sector. Understanding the key welfare challenges helps consumers and advocates drive improvement.
Atlantic salmon welfare involves multiple concurrent challenges throughout the production cycle. Sea lice cause skin and tissue damage with welfare consequences. Treatment procedures including freshwater and thermal bathing cause stress and occasionally mortality. Crowded net pen conditions restrict movement and create chronic stress for subordinate fish. The evidence base for salmon pain capacity and stress experience makes these welfare harms morally significant at enormous scale. The economic importance of salmon farming creates both the resources to invest in welfare improvements and the commercial pressure that has historically prioritized production over welfare.