Atlantic cod aquaculture is a growing industry as wild stocks recover from historical overfishing, but welfare challenges around aggressive behaviour, eye damage, and light management need addressing.
Farmed cod present specific welfare challenges arising from their naturally aggressive and cannibalistic behaviour. High stocking densities increase aggression and injury rates. Cataract development, linked to diet and light conditions, causes visual impairment that affects feeding ability and social behaviour. Light management - both intensity and photoperiod - significantly affects cod welfare and is not yet optimised in many operations. As cod farming expands, establishing welfare standards before the industry scales to production volumes that make change difficult is the responsible approach.