Improving fish welfare

There is no universal definition of animal welfare, but we accept that every fish is an individual with a perception of life. We regard fish welfare as the quality of life as perceived by the animal itself.

1. freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition;
2. freedom from fear and distress;
3. freedom from discomfort;
4. freedom from pain, injury and disease; and
5. freedom to express normal patterns of behavior

Our global fish welfare policy has implemented guidelines from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). It is based on the following main principles:

Minimize any discomfort to the fish during its life time in our fresh water facilities and farms

• Regular risk based water monitoring for early detection of dangers and rapid implementation of measures
• Careful handling of any live fish during treatments, grading, transport etc
• Monitoring welfare indicators during treatments in sea water for early detection of damages and rapid implementation of measures
• Regular fish health control for early detection of diseases and rapid implementation of measures

Ensure that all live fish is anesthetized prior to killing

• Access to necessary drugs and equipment in all production plants to anesthetize and kill weak fish
• Training course in anestetic, control of reflexes and culling every fifth year for all staff involved in fish production
• Training course in anestetic, control of reflexes and bleeding every fifth year for all staff involved in killing at slaughter

Environmental enrichment

Based on the current knowledge, we are providing opportunities for positive affective states, such as:

• An environment simulating natural habitat where the freshly hatched alevins can hide
• Spacious environment with the opportunity to search for resources and explore the environment freely
• The opportunity to shoal with other fish

However, more research is needed to develop knowledge about this topic further.

Monitoring fish welfare

Each pen is assessed on the following indicators, with a score from 1-5:

• Presence of moribund fish
• Mortality levels
• Sea lice (L. Salmonis and Caligus sp.)
• Impact by preditors
• Appetite (average over the last week)
• Water quality (including oxygen levels, temperature, and impact by algae/jellyfish)

The system is still under testing and development.

Some of these parameters, such as fish density, mortality, appetite and water quality, are monitored each day at every facility by our staff or via digital tools. Appropriate measures are applied if scores reach identified thresholds on the various indicators.

There is still a lot to learn about fish welfare, including finding good ways to measure it. Today, we find that appetite is the best single indicator of whether our fish has good welfare, as fish with good health and welfare eat well and according to predicted parameters. However, more research and knowledge is needed to advance this area further.

Cleaner fish and health welfare

We have the same ethical responsibility to ensure good health and welfare of the cleaner fish in our care as our salmon. Our policies for fish health and welfare equally apply to them.

Our cleaner fish are either farmed or wild. Fishing quotas for wild cleaner fish are regulated by Norwegian Authorities. We apply various measures to ensure the well-being of our cleaner fish:

• Established practices to ensure that the cleaner fish are as robust and healthy as possible.
• Optimized vaccination programs.
• Screening before release into the pens.
• Specific feed in the pens, tailor-made for cleaner fish.
• Tailor-made, artificial kelp forests in the pens where the cleaner fish can hide, avoid stress, rest, and sleep.

Currently, mortality rates for cleaner fish are high, which is common for new species in aquaculture. It takes time to learn about their specific biology and how to improve health and welfare, and also to breed stronger cleaner fish through breeding programs.

We are in the process of revising and improving our policies for cleaner fish. This includes working more systematically to report and reduce mortality.

Use of antibiotics

We adhere to the following principles for use of antibiotics:

• Antibiotics is only used as a last resort to treat bacterial diseases when fish health and fish welfare are threatened and never as a growth-promotor.
• All farming operations are in compliance with the WHO Guidelines on Use of Medically Important Antimicrobials in Food Producing Animals​
• Antibiotics on the WHO list of Highest Priority Critically Important Antibiotics should not be used 
• Antibiotics with low bio availability (oxytetracycline) should not be used.
• Antibiotics must be prescribed by authorized fish health personnel and only drugs licensed as veterinary medicine should be used. The prescription must be approved by central management in Grieg Seafood ASA.
• Withdrawal periods for medicine use are rigorously controlled and documented.

Mitating harmful algal blooms

We are starting to see results from our efforts to mitigate the impact of harmful algal blooms on our salmon.

Under certain conditions, phytoplankton (tiny microscopic plants) may grow out of control and form harmful algal blooms. These blooms can produce extremely toxic compounds that have a detrimental effect on fish, shellfish, mammals and birds. A bloom does not have to produce toxins in order to be harmful to the environment. It can also cause anoxic conditions, where oxygen is depleted from the water. Dense blooms can block light to organisms lower in the water column, or even clog or damage fish gills.

The mitigation of harmful algal blooms is a challenge we hope to overcome. We have earlier developed a substantial algae mitigation program, comprising of the following main aspects:

• Constant monitoring of potential algal blooms, for instance by using NASA satellite images or collaboration with local floatplane pilots.
• Technology to detect harmful algae in real-time, with microscopes at the sites and an online library of harmful algae species, helping staff to assess whether algae in the sea are harmful or not.
• Mitigation protocol and system in place, should harmful algae occur. Feeding is reduced or stopped, and an upwelling system transfers clean, algae-free water from the depths to the top of the pen, creating a protective “bubble” in the pen.
• Data from oxygen sensors are linked to the oxygenation system at sites with low oxygen levels in the water column.
• Prediction of harmful algal blooms by utilizing big data

While we still see mortality from harmful algae, the incidents are less severe than before, due to our mitigation efforts. During the algal season of 2021, we saw substantially less mortality than we expected compared to the number of incidents of harmful algal blooms.

We are transferring knowledge and competence about managing harmful algae blooms to our farming region based on risk of outbreaks.

Fish density on our farms

The pens provide space for the fish in our farms to thrive, grow healthy and express normal patterns of behavior.

• Our pens are between 97,5 - 98,5 percent water and 1,5 - 2,5 percent fish.