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On-farm evaluation of the Salmon Welfare Index Model (SWIM 1.0): theoretical and practical considerations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

O Folkedal ,
JM Pettersen ,
MBM Bracke ,
LH Stien ,
J Nilsson ,
C Martins ,
O Breck ,
PJ Midtlyng  and
T Kristiansen
O Folkedal*
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Research, Mail box 1870, Nordnes, 5817 Bergen, Norway
JM Pettersen
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Oslo, Norway
MBM Bracke
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands
LH Stien
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Research, Mail box 1870, Nordnes, 5817 Bergen, Norway
J Nilsson
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Research, Mail box 1870, Nordnes, 5817 Bergen, Norway
C Martins
Affiliation:
Marine Harvest, Bergen, Norway
O Breck
Affiliation:
Marine Harvest, Bergen, Norway
PJ Midtlyng
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Food Safety and Infection Biology, Oslo, Norway
T Kristiansen
Affiliation:
Institute of Marine Research, Mail box 1870, Nordnes, 5817 Bergen, Norway
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The present study investigated the operational feasibility of the recently developed Salmon Welfare Index Model (SWIM 1.0) designed for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L) in production cages. Ten salmon farms containing spring smolts were visited twice, first between May and June the first year in sea cages, and secondly 2-3 months later. On each farm the SWIM 1.0 assessments were carried out for the two cages assumed by the farmer to represent the best and worst welfare status. The applied welfare indicators (WIs) were water temperature, salinity, stocking density, lighting, disturbance, daily mortality rate, appetite, sea lice infestation ratio, condition factor, emaciation state, vertebral deformation, maturation stage, smoltification state, fin condition and skin condition. The effective time to carry out the welfare evaluation was about 1.5 h per farm. The results showed some marked differences between visits; relatively larger proportions of emaciated fish were sampled during the first compared to the second visit, and more homogeneous scores of skin and fin damage were found on the second visit. The overall welfare index scores were generally in accordance with the farmers’ ranking of the ‘best’ and the ‘worst’ sea cage during the first visit. Together, the findings of this study suggest that the SWIM model may be employed for documentation of animal welfare over the salmon marine production cycle. The results call attention towards re-assessment of some of the welfare indicators, improved sampling methods, and a more user-friendly interface. All-in-all, the current SWIM model is regarded as a promising candidate tool towards welfare assessment of farmed salmon.

Keywords

animal welfareaquacultureAtlantic salmondiagnosticsea cagesemantic modelling
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , February 2016 , pp. 135 - 149
Copyright
© 2016 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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