Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a migratory species that naturally moves between rivers and the open sea — a life cycle that poses fundamental challenges in aquaculture systems.
As the most frequently farmed fish in Europe, it is typically reared in freshwater before being transferred to sea cages. Yet, its biology does not easily align with these production systems.
This mismatch is reflected in several welfare concerns, including limited environmental complexity, stress, aggression, and deformities. In addition, practices such as artificial reproduction and slaughter methods raise further questions about how to ensure good welfare standards.
In this new post, we explore key aspects of Atlantic salmon biology and discuss what they mean for welfare in aquaculture — and why more research is urgently needed.
🔎 Read the full post here.
🔎 Explore its WelfareCheck profile in the fair-fish database here.
(posted on 2026/04/07)
➜FishEthoGroup is a team of motivated professionals focused on improving fish welfare based on their behaviours.
We develop scientific and applied actions to reach our goals by promoting research, helping to disseminate knowledge, giving consultancy, and training about fish welfare.
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We are a non-profit association bridging the gaps between science and the stakeholders in the aquaculture sector: producers, certifiers, retailers, NGOs, policy makers and consumers. Our goal is to study and improve the welfare of farmed fishes and other aquatic animals by applying ethological scientific knowledge into best practices in fish farming.
Throughout the years, our team has been involved in many areas of the aquaculture sector, from scientific research to campaigning, from auditing to policy. We use that expertise to promote the welfare of fishes through many initiatives with our partners and collaborators.
We develop science-based solutions to assess and improve the welfare of captive and wild-caught fishes. In our approach, we apply a strong background in aquaculture and ethology to address the welfare of fishes. We use state-of-the-art knowledge on the behaviour of a species to understand how its welfare is affected under farming conditions and what we can do to promote it.
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We develop custom-made welfare solutions for your initiatives, as consultancy in farms or other facilities, tailored courses, guidance, certification requirements or systems, specific research studies and welfare protocols (see What we do).
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