Selective breeding in Atlantic salmon aquaculture has produced rapid growth gains but also welfare trade-offs, and welfare-inclusive genomics programs are now incorporating robustness and disease resistance traits.
Salmon genetics is a powerful welfare lever - the baseline health and robustness of every animal on a farm is determined by its genetic background. Strains selected for growth rates at the expense of cardiac and skeletal health produce animals that are constitutionally more prone to welfare problems. As genomic tools reduce the cost of incorporating welfare traits into selection programs, the industry's resistance to welfare-inclusive breeding is weakening.