More farmed salmon than ever died a premature death in Norway in 2022. A record 58 million salmon died before slaughter. The Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance has commissioned a report to investigate what can be done to improve conditions and reduce mortality in aquaculture.
Norwegian salmon aquaculture is constantly growing and has experienced increasing market success, despite persistent and serious problems associated with poor fish health and welfare. Salmon farming involves intensive livestock production with a high number of individuals in each net pen, and the welfare and environmental problems are increasing. The general consensus is that salmon welfare is not satisfactory and that the mortality rate is too high. Despite these concerns, salmon production increased by approx. 160,000 tonnes from 2020 to 2021.
The current system contributes to high mortality
Although fish mortality is not an optimal measure of fish welfare, the persistently high mortality rates are a sign of an underlying welfare problem.
The traffic light regulatory system
The traffic light system was introduced as a regulatory tool for Norwegian Atlantic salmon aquaculture in 2017 and evaluates each production zone annually in regard to the impact of salmon lice on wild fish. A green, yellow, or red light means that producers in the production zone can increase, must remain at the same level, or must reduce net production, respectively. At present, the impact of salmon lice on wild fish is the only indicator used in the traffic light system, which has resulted in a large focus on strategies to reduce salmon lice.
Today, growth in Norwegian aquaculture is regulated by the traffic light system. This system is based solely on the occurrence of salmon lice. Although lice treatment can be very stressful for farmed salmon, the current system encourages a one-sided focus on low lice numbers. This means that it may be more profitable for producers to treat increasingly weakened fish, rather than risk allowing salmon lice to develop. Some producers perform better than others in terms of fish welfare and mortality, but this is not rewarded within the current system.
The Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance has therefore campaigned for a change to the traffic light system. We believe that fish welfare must be considered when the authorities decide whether the producers will be given the opportunity to increase production. As a start, we have pointed out that mortality must be included in the current system, so that fish farming sites with high mortality rates are not allowed to increase production.
Profitable to improve the conditions for farmed salmon
In 2021, the Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance asked economic consultancy firm Menon Economics, in collaboration with the research institute Nofima, to assess the impact of new regulations for reduced fish mortality in the aquaculture industry, on socio-economic return.
In their report, Menon has carried out a socio-economic analysis of introducing public regulations on mortality in farmed salmon. Specifically, they have studied how producers will adapt if lower mortality is a requirement to achieve future growth, and what consequences this will have for society.
Low mortality is possible
Menon has revealed that 60-70% of salmon producers have a lower mortality rate than the national average. Some producers report considerably higher mortality levels than others, which increases the average for the country as a whole.
Through a series of interviews, including with two producers who manage to keep mortality rates relatively low, Menon presents several suitable measures that fish farmers can implement for reducing mortality. Several are low-hanging fruit, such as gentler treatment of the fish.
Regulation of mortality is profitable!
Menon concludes in the report that it will be socio-economically profitable to regulate production growth based on mortality, as the Norwegian Animal Protection Alliance suggests. This measure will allow for growth of the aquaculture industry, and will provide a significant reduction in mortality. In other words, the fish will be better off, and society will benefit.
