Salmo salar

FishEthoScore

Li1  ❘  Po2  ❘  Ce2

Likelihood

Potential

Certainty

Despite the fact that Salmo salar is the most farmed fish in Europe, more fine-tuned culture strategies are needed to improve fish welfare and performance of this species. The low FishEthoScore is mainly due to the dependence on fish in the diet, home range needs, high levels of aggression, needs of substrate, stress under farming conditions and high levels of deformations. 
It is recommended to ensure proper space, at least in the vertical sense, according to the biological needs which seems to be satisfied in sea cages, but not in raceways. The development of new rearing strategies to optimise the husbandry practices such as matching the biological rhythms with e.g. feeding activities or unavoidable but often stressful husbandry procedures would be a step forward to solving some specific welfare concerns, to prevent poor welfare and to minimise stress, improving fish welfare, fish performance and reduce stress. Replacing fish meal and fish oil in the feed by plant-based or sustainable sources would ensure an ethical food production. Semi-intensive and extensive farming could be a remediation for some of the current problems and help improving fish welfare and performance.