Genetic engineering for better fish welfare

Norway is the world's largest salmon producer. Around half of the world's Atlantic farmed salmon is produced in Norway, and salmon farming is among Norway's largest and most profitable industries.

Unfortunately, salmon farming is also the country's biggest animal welfare crisis. Around 200 million salmon a year die in production, often due to salmon lice, disease and stressful lice treatments. Lack of essential nutrients in the feed, especially marine fatty acids, impairs the health and welfare of salmon. Intense farming also leads to problems outside the facilities, including when farmed salmon multiply with wild axes and infect them with salmon lice.

It already exists technological solutions that can bring significant gains; in the short and long term. Among the most important are genetic technologies such as DNA vaccines, CRISPR/gene editing as a breeding tool and feed from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are.

Unfortunately, opposition to genetic engineering and GMOs is being used as a trade policy tool to protect Norwegian agriculture from competition. This costs the aquaculture industry billions of kroner annually, and results in poorer health and welfare for fish.

Industry actors and policymakers must challenge the GMO dogma and agricultural interests and facilitate the use of technologies that will bring more value and fish a better life.

This note goes into depth on two examples of key genetic engineering solutions and presents our recommendations on what it takes to make them usable.

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