Safeguarding the health and welfare of our salmon

As leaders of the Blue Revolution, the health and welfare of our salmon is  our top priority. Not only is it an ethical responsibility, but it is an integral part of Mowi’s strategy to keep our salmon healthy and happy as this allows us to provide nutritious and climate-friendly food for a growing world population.

Our definition of fish welfare

Mowi recognises the accepted Five Freedoms for animal welfare and adopts the World Organisation for Animal Health definition of animal welfare: A good state of welfare is if the animal is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour and it is not suffering from unpleasant states. Good welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, and humane handling.

How we safeguard the welfare of our farm-raised salmon

Our primary goal throughout all of our farming operations is to protect our salmon’s wellbeing at every stage of the farming process. We raise our salmon in conditions that allow them to thrive in their environment, including appropriate health treatments, feed and feeding practices, and behaviour observation, to ensure good health and performance throughout their lives.

Environmental conditions

Our farms are located where the environmental conditions best suit our salmon. This ensures our salmon grow in areas where the water quality matches their needs, provides natural comfort, and allows them to thrive. Our salmon are stocked at densities that safeguard their health and enhance performance, providing ample space to swim and express innate behaviour. Fully stocked, our ocean net pens contain 2% fish to 98% water, which gives every fish space to swim and ensures our salmon are healthy and of high quality.

Health treatments

Biosecurity standards, veterinary health plans, and good husbandry and management practices contribute to optimising fish welfare. Our fish health and welfare management is focused on disease prevention, minimising suffering, and limiting the spread of disease if fish become ill. Thanks to improved innovation, we rarely use antibiotics but when we do, they are prescribed and certified by our veterinarians and are regulated by authorities.

Feed and feeding practices 

We ensure that 100% of our farmed salmon obtain the necessary nutrients for good health and welfare. We have also elevated the use of functional ingredients to support fish welfare when exposed to conditions that may compromise their health. Additionally, we continue researching new solutions that support gut health to maximise nutrient retention.

Fish behaviour

Advances in Smart Farming enable us to manage fish health and welfare through real-time monitoring of the fish and the environment. Machine learning and perception, underwater cameras, and sensing systems provide more information on fish behaviour, such as appetite and swimming activity. This helps us to be more proactive in identifying and mitigating risks, as well as understanding how to best care for our fish.

Our strict safeguarding standards are implemented at all farm sites and in all countries, and our dedicated fish health professionals and highly trained staff ensure the welfare of our fish is monitored and secured daily. At Mowi, our success relies on healthy and happy fish to produce healthy and sustainable food for a growing world population. We will continue to work hard to find new farming, technological and health solutions to advance fish welfare and well-being in our operations.