Aquaculture Welfare

Farmed Salmon Deformity Spinal Jaw Welfare

Skeletal deformities including spinal curvature and jaw malformations are welfare problems in farmed salmon. These arise from hatchery conditions, nutrition, and genetics and significantly impair welfare and production.

Key Facts

Spinal deformities including scoliosis and compression affect 2-10% of farmed salmon
Jaw deformities impair feeding ability, causing chronic undernutrition and suffering
Nutritional deficiencies including vitamin C and phosphorus cause skeletal abnormalities
High water temperatures in hatcheries are associated with increased deformity rates
Deformed fish should be culled promptly to prevent prolonged welfare suffering

Welfare Considerations

Salmon with spinal or jaw deformities experience impaired mobility or feeding that causes chronic welfare suffering. Spinal deformities can progress, causing increasing discomfort as fish grow. Preventing deformities through optimal hatchery nutrition and temperature management, monitoring deformity rates as a welfare indicator, and culling severely affected fish promptly are essential welfare practices.

What You Can Do

Support aquaculture standards requiring deformity monitoring and reporting
Advocate for hatchery welfare standards that address nutritional deformity prevention
Choose salmon from certified operations with low deformity prevalence