Aquaculture Welfare

Farmed Salmon Disease Challenge Welfare

Infectious diseases in farmed salmon cause mass mortality events and chronic welfare problems requiring integrated management approaches.

Key Facts

Infectious salmon anaemia caused major Norwegian welfare and production crises
Heart and skeletal muscle inflammation causes significant salmon mortality in Norway
Cardiomyopathy syndrome is a leading cause of cardiac disease in Atlantic salmon
Disease outbreaks cause acute suffering and death across large fish populations
Vaccination programmes against primary diseases have reduced antibiotic use significantly

Welfare Considerations

Disease outbreaks in salmon farming cause mass mortality that represents welfare harm at enormous scale. Individual fish experience acute illness, weakness, and death from disease conditions that in some cases cause prolonged suffering. Prevention through vaccination, biosecurity, and careful site management is the most welfare-effective approach, reducing both mortality and the welfare costs of disease treatment.

What You Can Do

Support aquaculture disease prevention through vaccination requirements
Advocate for biosecurity standards that prevent disease introduction
Choose salmon from farms with low disease-related mortality records