Atlantic cod farming collapsed in the mid-2010s but is recovering as a premium product. The welfare conditions of farmed cod and the lessons from the industry's first phase are shaping the new generation of production.
The first wave of Atlantic cod farming provided a cautionary lesson: rapid scaling without adequate welfare and disease management led to high deformity rates, disease problems and eventual market collapse. The recovering Norwegian cod industry is applying those lessons, with improved genetics, better disease management and more appropriate husbandry. Welfare indicators including vertebral deformity rates, fin damage and disease prevalence are being used as production metrics in ways they were not in the first wave. This represents genuine progress in integrating welfare into aquaculture business practice rather than treating it as an external requirement. The premium positioning of farmed cod provides commercial space for welfare investment.