{"id":1723,"date":"2026-04-10T02:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T00:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/?p=1723"},"modified":"2026-09-10T02:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T00:14:48","slug":"the-limitations-of-salmon-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/10\/the-limitations-of-salmon-farming\/","title":{"rendered":"The limitations of salmon farming"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The image of salmon caught in Norway is, for the most part, nothing more than a distant memory.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
Today, wild salmon catches account for only a tiny fraction of global consumption; 99.9% comes from marine-based or land-based farms.<\/span><\/span> Admittedly, \u00ab\u00a0blue food\u00a0\u00bb generates fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than land-based foods and thus helps bridge the gap between the ocean’s potential and the production of healthy, sustainable food for humans.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
Current efforts focus notably on waste control, water quality management, and the implementation of responsible animal feed practices.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Salmon production, which was still a niche activity a few decades ago, has grown spectacularly\u2014increasing by 200% in 20 years.<\/span><\/span> It has tripled over two decades, rising from 1 million tonnes in the early 2000s to nearly 3 million tonnes today\u2014representing around 600 million salmon harvested annually.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
The primary drivers of this growth are Norway\u2014a pioneer\u2014and Chile; both countries possess the cold waters ideal for salmon farming and dominate the global market.<\/span><\/span> However, with the establishment of farming facilities in temperate or warm regions\u2014ranging from France to Saudi Arabia\u2014dozens of projects currently in development could eventually boost global production by another 91%.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n
Salmon farming is one of the most sustainable ways to produce healthy protein, yet we may have reached the limits of the model.<\/span><\/span> The image of salmon caught in Norway is, for the most part, nothing more than a distant memory.<\/span><\/span> Today, wild salmon catches account for only a tiny fraction of global consumption;\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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99.9% of the supply comes from marine-pen or land-based farms.<\/span><\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/div>\n
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The shift occurred in the 1980s when, for the first time, farmed production overtook wild catches.<\/span><\/span> Since then, the farming industry has dramatically expanded its production capacity: the 2.9 million tonnes produced in 2021 represent a volume 2,339 times greater than the 1,200 tonnes of wild Atlantic salmon caught.<\/span><\/span> While major industrial groups defend farming as a way to protect wild salmon stocks from extinction, the reality goes far beyond that.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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The limitations of salmon farming: a substantial number of fish die prematurely before reaching the maturity required for human consumption, largely due to:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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    the rapid spread of infectious diseases in rearing tanks and marine pens;<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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    stress caused by stocking density (generally equivalent to one salmon per 200-liter bathtub);<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
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    injuries resulting from parasite treatment (during which fish are removed, rinsed, and sometimes brushed).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    In 2023, Norway\u2014the leading producer\u2014recorded a death toll of 100 million salmon, or 16.7%.<\/span><\/span> This rate is well above the 10% mortality level deemed \u00ab\u00a0acceptable\u00a0\u00bb by the ASC, the benchmark certification for \u00ab\u00a0responsible\u00a0\u00bb salmon.<\/span><\/span> \u00ab\u00a0Everyone agrees that this situation cannot go on.\u00a0\u00bb<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The image of salmon caught in Norway is, for the most part, nothing more than a distant memory. Today, wild salmon catches account for only a tiny fraction of global consumption; 99.9% comes from marine-based or land-based farms. Admittedly, \u00ab\u00a0blue food\u00a0\u00bb generates fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than land-based foods and thus helps bridge the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alimentation-en","category-biodiversity-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1724,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1723\/revisions\/1724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actforyourplanet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}