Norwegian salmon farming dominates global production but welfare standards and challenges vary significantly across the industry requiring systematic improvement.
Norwegian salmon welfare sits at the intersection of the world's largest salmon farming industry and developing welfare science for aquatic species. The scale means that even incremental welfare improvements affect hundreds of millions of fish. Sea lice management is the most significant ongoing welfare challenge - lice cause pain and tissue damage while treatments carry their own welfare costs. Progress requires developing effective prevention strategies that reduce lice burden without welfare-compromising treatments. Leading Norwegian producers are pioneering closed containment and snorkel technologies that reduce sea lice infestation and represent welfare advances for the industry.