Aquaculture Welfare

Farmed Salmon Welfare Open Data 2026

Open data initiatives in salmon farming are improving transparency and enabling independent welfare assessment - 2026 sees significant expansion.

Key Facts

Norway's Barentswatch platform provides public data on lice loads and treatments by farm
Scotland is developing enhanced public reporting requirements for salmon farms
Third-party welfare audits with published scores are emerging in Norwegian retail markets
Open data enables academic welfare research that industry data alone cannot support
Consumer-facing welfare scorecards require robust open data infrastructure

Welfare Considerations

Welfare transparency through open data transforms the accountability landscape for salmon farming. Farms with good welfare have incentive to demonstrate it, while farms with poor welfare face visible accountability. Open data is foundational to evidence-based welfare improvement.

What You Can Do

Access and share salmon farm welfare data from public sources
Support organisations analysing open salmon welfare data for independent assessment
Advocate for mandatory public welfare data reporting requirements in salmon farming regulation