Aquaculture

Farmed Salmon Sea Cage Welfare Management

Sea cage management decisions directly affect salmon welfare across the production cycle, from stocking to harvest.

Key Facts

Net pen stocking density affects oxygen consumption and welfare-relevant behaviours
Feeding management must balance growth targets with gut health and welfare
Lice burden management requires choosing between treatment welfare costs and lice welfare costs
Emergency responses to oxygen depletion events must be planned in advance
Continuous welfare monitoring through underwater cameras is increasingly used

Welfare Considerations

Sea cage salmon welfare is shaped by dozens of daily management decisions about feeding, stocking, oxygen, and health. A welfare management framework that treats these decisions as welfare determinants - not just production factors - produces better welfare outcomes. Industry adoption of welfare-first decision frameworks is the key structural change needed.

What You Can Do

Support salmon certification requiring welfare-based sea cage management standards
Advocate for continuous welfare monitoring standards in salmon sea cages
Choose salmon from producers transparent about their sea cage management practices