SAFEGUARDING THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF MOWI’S SALMON

Safeguarding the health and welfare of Mowi’s salmon. As leaders of the Blue Revolution, the health and welfare of Mowi’s salmon is their top priority. Not only is it an ethical responsibility, but it is an integral part of Mowi’s strategy to keep their salmon healthy and happy as this allows them to provide nutritious and climate-friendly food for a growing world population.
Mowi’s 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 Mowi safeguards the welfare of their farm-raised salmon
Mowi’s primary goal throughout all of their farming operations is to protect their salmon’s wellbeing at every stage of the farming process. They raise their 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
Mowi’s farms are located where the environmental conditions best suit their salmon. This ensures the salmon grow in areas where the water quality matches their needs, provides natural comfort, and allows them to thrive. Mowi’s salmon are stocked at densities that safeguard their health and enhance performance, providing ample space to swim and express innate behaviour. Fully stocked, their ocean net pens contain 2% fish to 98% water, which gives every fish space to swim and ensures the 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. Mowi’s 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, Mowi rarely uses antibiotics but when they do, they are prescribed and certified by their veterinarians and are regulated by authorities.
Feed and feeding practices
Mowi ensures that 100% of their farmed salmon obtain the necessary nutrients for good health and welfare. They have also elevated the use of functional ingredients to support fish welfare when exposed to conditions that may compromise their health. Additionally, Mowi continues researching new solutions that support gut health to maximise nutrient retention.
Fish behaviour
Advances in Smart Farming enables Mowi 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 Mowi to be more proactive in identifying and mitigating risks, as well as understanding how to best care for their fish.
Mowi’s strict safeguarding standards are implemented at all farm sites and in all countries, and their dedicated fish health professionals and highly trained staff ensure the welfare of their fish is monitored and secured daily. At Mowi, their success relies on healthy and happy fish to produce healthy and sustainable food for a growing world population. They will continue to work hard to find new farming, technological and health solutions to advance fish welfare and well-being in their operations.