Fish health and fish welfare policy

Owner/approver: COO Farming

Last audited: 2025-03-06

Purpose

Fish welfare is a crucial priority for Lerøy. Ensuring the well-being of our fish not only aligns with ethical standards but also enhances productivity and product quality. Adhering to good fish welfare practices results in healthier fish, which translates into better growth rates, lower mortality, and higher quality seafood products. This commitment to welfare is essential for sustainable and responsible aquaculture operations. 

Our approach to fish welfare is based on the Five Freedoms of animal welfare. This encompasses freedom from hunger, malnutrition, pain, disease, and injury, as well as the ability to express natural behaviours. We are dedicated to creating conditions that promote optimal welfare, minimising stress, and supporting the health of our fish throughout their lifespan.  

Pathogens are naturally present in aquatic environments, affecting both wild and farmed fish. In aquaculture, the higher density of fish increases the potential for transmission and may amplify the impact of pathogens, posing challenges to fish health and welfare. 

By addressing both internal factors, such as genetics and smolt quality, and external factors, including environmental stressors and handling practices, we adopt a holistic view of fish health and welfare, underscoring our commitment to continuous improvement, innovation, and accountability in ensuring that the fish under our care are raised in the best possible conditions. 

For Lerøy, advancements in technology present opportunities to enhance fish welfare. The introduction of new farming methods is expected to decrease lice infestation levels, reduce the necessity for treatments, and consequently improve fish health, resulting in higher survival rates. This will lead to greater harvest volumes, reduced costs associated with lice treatment, and a higher proportion of premium quality fish, thereby boosting revenues. Consequently, Lerøy anticipates significant economic benefits from implementing new farming technologies. 

To monitor the abovementioned impacts, risk and opportunities, Lerøy takes several actions: 

• The fish health plan for the Group is revised annually or when new pharmaceuticals or treatments are introduced 
• The fish health plan for each farming site is updated yearly, before starting a new production cycle, or when new regulations, pharmaceuticals etc. are introduced
• All farming sites have individual biosecurity plans adapted to local conditions that are updated when starting a new production cycle (sea farming), annually (land-based facilities) or when the risk picture/ disease situation changes.  
• Fish Health Leadership Group: meetings held every 14 days or when needed with Fish Health Manager LSG and Fish Health Managers from farming companies in the Group attending
• Fish Health Community Group: meetings held four times a year or when needed with fish health personnel in farming companies attending
• Operational data from relevant data sources is retrieved and compiled daily/periodically per farming site per company and is distributed to all relevant personnel in the Group 

Valid for

This policy applies to all the Group's farming operations.

Definitions

Fish welfare: Quality of life as perceived by the fish itself. 

Welfare indicator: Measurable or observable parameters that provide information about the quality of the fish’s welfare. 

Framework and principles

We make use of procedures as governance tools for production. These procedures help us standardise the processes to which the fish are subjected, and they are updated as soon as we obtain new knowledge that must be considered. As such, the entire organisation has rapid and efficient access to new knowledge.  The following elements are key to our work on fish welfare: 

• Water quality and volume shall be adapted to the requirements for fish at different life stages and for different species.
• Nutrition shall be customised to fish species and life stages.
• The fish must be provided with a habitat that supports their well-being and enables them to exhibit natural behaviours.
• Breeding practices shall aim to produce robust fish with increased resistance to infectious diseases.
• Employees working with fish shall possess the necessary skills to ensure good fish welfare.
• Moribund fish shall be promptly removed from the production units and humanely euthanised.
• Active biosecurity measures shall be taken to prevent infection within or between our facilities.
• All fish shall be appropriately vaccinated based on the specific disease risks and conditions of the areas where they will be deployed.
• Authorized fish health personnel shall regularly monitor the fish's health and act promptly when needed.  
• All devices and equipment shall be designed to ensure good fish welfare.
• All slaughtering facilities shall only use humane methods of anaesthesia, i.e. a blow to the head or an electric shock followed by bleeding. The process is closely supervised with manual monitoring as an additional control. CO₂ is not used as a method of slaughter in any of our facilities.
• To achieve good fish welfare, we make active use of action plans at all levels in the value chain and submit regular status reports on established KPIs. 

Careful handling:

Lerøy makes efforts to minimise handling of fish. Handling can reduce the fish's resistance to disease by causing stress and affecting their outer barriers. The Group focuses on measures to reduce risk during necessary handling, such as controlling changes in pressure and temperature and managing time and extent of crowding conditions. Minimising and optimising necessary handling is aimed at improving fish health and welfare, which is an important objective for the Group. 

Welfare indicators:

Welfare indicators for salmon are evaluated in accordance with the manual "Welfare Indicators for Farmed Salmon: How to Assess and Document Fish Welfare," with certain modifications adapted to our production. The manual is the result of the FISHWELL project, funded by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF) and conducted by Nofima.   

Daily welfare indicators monitored include temperature, oxygen levels, growth, density, mortality, and causes of death. At regular intervals, we assess additional welfare indicators such as lice levels, gases, salinity, Secchi depth, water currents, vaccine side effects, external defects, cataracts, gill health, algae presence, jellyfish, and pathogens. The various welfare indicators enable us to objectively measure and analyse the interrelations between different parameters, providing valuable insights into overall fish welfare. This allows us to implement targeted measures in the production to prevent factors that may negatively affect fish welfare. By systematising welfare parameters across the organisation, we can establish a stronger foundation for comparing different production methods. Advances in machine learning and the ability to analyse large datasets in a short time may further contribute to identifying enhanced solutions for improved fish health and welfare. 

Roles and responsibilities

• All employees who work with live fish at Lerøy are responsible for ensuring good fish welfare.
• Production management is responsible for ensuring all employees working with live fish receive the necessary training to uphold good fish welfare.
• Fish health personnel conduct regular health assessments and monitor for diseases to ensure early detection of health or welfare issues.
• Production employees are responsible for the daily care and maintenance of the fish.  

Policy ownership and implementation

• The management of the various departments is responsible for policy implementation and updates.
• The policy has been approved by the Corporate Management Group, presented to the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors
• The policy is approved by Bjarne Reinert, COO Farming.