Aquaculture

Farmed Salmon Climate Adaptation Welfare

Climate change is creating new welfare challenges for farmed salmon through warmer seas, changing disease patterns, and extreme weather events.

Key Facts

Sea surface temperatures in key salmon farming regions have risen by 1 to 2 degrees since 2000
Warmer water reduces oxygen saturation and increases jellyfish abundance, causing gill damage
Amoebic gill disease is becoming more prevalent as warmer waters favor Neoparamoeba perurans
Extreme storm events cause net damage, fish escapes, and emergency handling stress
Salmon breeding programs are selecting for thermal tolerance to address warming seas

Welfare Considerations

Salmon facing warmer, more hostile sea conditions experience increased disease pressure, gill damage, and hypoxic stress. Climate adaptation in both farm design and genetics is essential to maintain welfare under changing conditions.

What You Can Do

Support salmon from farms investing in climate adaptation and welfare research
Advocate for including climate resilience in salmon welfare certification standards
Donate to aquaculture welfare research addressing climate change impacts on fish welfare