Fallowing - leaving sea cage sites empty for a period between production cycles - provides both ecosystem recovery and disease management benefits that translate to improved fish welfare in subsequent cycles.
Fallowing is a welfare intervention at the population level: by reducing disease pressure on incoming fish, it reduces the welfare cost of sea lice infestation and the treatment stress associated with managing high lice burdens. From an individual fish welfare perspective, entering a site with low environmental disease load reduces chronic stress from parasite damage, the need for stressful bath treatments, and the cumulative welfare impact of repeated infestation-treatment cycles. Fallowing also benefits the ecosystem under and around fish farms, indirectly supporting the broader marine welfare of species affected by salmon farm enrichment.