WHAT IS MOWI’S APPROACH TO FISH HEALTH AND WELFARE?

What is Mowi’s approach to fish health and welfare? Caring for their fish lies at the heart of what Mowi does, and the primary goal at Mowi is to raise healthy fish and protect their welfare at every stage of the farming process.

Mowi’s approach to fish health and welfare is second to none. Their highly trained farmers, veterinarians and biologists care for their salmon to industry-leading health and welfare standards. From ensuring vigilance of fish behaviour, responsible medicinal treatment, optimal environmental conditions, and excellent quality feed and feeding practices, their expertise and genuine care ensure Mowi salmon are raised to industry-leading standards.

Vigilance of fish behaviour

Mowi continuously invest in research and development to advance fish health and welfare in their operations. By using innovative technology, Mowi’s knowledgeable farmers closely monitor the well-being of their salmon underwater, using real-time information on their health and tracking potential welfare issues such as water quality and risk of disease.

Responsible medicinal treatment

Mowi’s fish health and welfare management is focused on disease prevention, minimising suffering, and limiting the spread of disease if fish become ill. Only intervening, if a fish is in discomfort or distress, and thanks to improved innovation, Mowi rarely use antibiotics. Still, when they do, they are prescribed and certified by Mowi’s veterinarians and are regulated by authorities. Fish health treatments can be organic, medicinal or non-medicinal, and freshwater baths are provided when necessary to improve salmon health.

Like other livestock in the UK, Mowi vaccinate their salmon smolts to protect them from bacterial and viral diseases that can develop when exposed to the natural environment. Vaccinating their fish against common diseases allows them to maintain a significantly higher welfare standard by mitigating the impact of infections when they arise.

Optimal environmental conditions

Mowi employ the best in the industry to ensure that the environmental conditions are optimal for the welfare and well-being of their fish.

They use a combination of farming techniques to ensure their salmon have the best start in life. Whether on land or at sea, they raise their salmon using various farming techniques that closely resemble a salmon’s natural life cycle. Like wild salmon, farmed-raised salmon spend the first part of their life growing in freshwater. Mowi’s teams closely monitor everything from water quality to temperature and oxygen levels, ensuring the best conditions and health for their salmon to thrive. At Mowi, they extend the freshwater phase in their post-smolt facilities to enhance fish health and welfare by reducing their time in open waters. Only when they are physically ready are Mowi’s salmon carefully transferred to sea-based sites, where they stay in their net pens for up to two years.

Mowi’s salmon are also stocked at densities that safeguard their health and enhance performance, providing ample space to swim and express innate behaviour. Fully stocked, Mowi’s ocean net pens contain 2.5% fish to 97.5% water, which gives every fish space to swim and school and ensures their salmon are healthy and of high quality.

Quality feed and feeding practices

Mowi produce state-of-the-art feed to ensure the best possible fish health. Their world-leading research and development teams make sure that the fish receive the nutrients they require for optimal welfare. By sourcing high-quality ingredients and functional additives, they can meet their salmon’s nutritional needs throughout their life cycle.

The ongoing implementation of Smart Farming technologies across Mowi feed enables them to deliver feed to the salmon through their innovative feeding systems and monitor feeding behaviour and appetite in real time using camera-based feeding operations and feeding control centres. This improves fish health and welfare as they can make any necessary adjustments quickly and easily to ensure the fish are happy and healthy.

As leaders of the Blue Revolution, Mowi must maintain the highest standards in fish husbandry and welfare to ensure their salmon are healthy and happy. Their business depends on it so they can raise healthy seafood.

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