Aquaculture

Farmed Salmon Deformity Monitoring and Prevention

Approaches to monitoring and preventing spinal and jaw deformities in farmed Atlantic salmon.

Key Facts

Deformity rates in salmon are a key welfare indicator used in Handur scoring
Nutritional management during early life is critical for skeletal development
High temperature incubation increases deformity risk in salmon eggs
Genetic selection for skeletal integrity is increasingly incorporated in breeding programmes
Visual assessment of deformity prevalence at harvest provides population-level welfare data

Welfare Considerations

Deformities cause chronic discomfort and functional impairment in affected fish, and prevention through improved nutrition and genetics is a welfare priority in salmon farming.

What You Can Do

Support research into salmon deformity prevention through nutrition and genetics
Advocate for deformity prevalence as a mandatory welfare indicator in aquaculture standards
Choose salmon from certified farms committed to reducing deformity rates