Aquaculture Welfare

Salmon Sea Lice Integrated Pest Management

Sea lice are the most significant welfare and economic challenge in Atlantic salmon farming, requiring integrated management approaches that balance efficacy with treatment welfare impacts.

Key Facts

Sea lice infestations cause tissue damage, stress and secondary infection in salmon
Lice can reproduce rapidly in salmon farms, creating serious welfare problems
Chemical treatments themselves cause stress and can cause mortality if applied incorrectly
Cleaner fish including wrasse and lumpfish provide biological control
Snorkel barriers, skirts and lights are non-medicinal tools to reduce lice attachment

Welfare Considerations

Sea lice management is a welfare dilemma: the lice themselves cause harm, but many treatments - thermolicer, hydrolicer, chemicals - also cause acute stress and sometimes mortality. Integrated pest management strategies that reduce lice pressure through non-medicinal means, reserve treatments for when necessary, and ensure treatment protocols are optimised for fish welfare represent the best current approach.

What You Can Do

Choose salmon from farms with strong integrated lice management programmes
Support research into non-medicinal sea lice control methods
Advocate for lice thresholds that trigger action before welfare harm occurs