OPINION
Animal welfare should be the foundation - not the complement - of modern salmon farming
Daniel Elton, chief technology officer for Chilean smolt producer Lago Sofía, argues that making fish welfare the priority is integral to successful land-based production
For a long time, animal welfare in salmon farming was addressed mainly as a reputational requirement - something associated with regulatory compliance, certifications, or the expectations of consumers and export markets. However, from my experience working with recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS), I am convinced that we now need to understand it in a completely different way: animal welfare is not an operational add-on. It should be the foundation upon which we design and operate our systems.
When we talk about fish welfare, the conversation is often limited to ethical or communication-related aspects. Yet in intensive recirculation systems, welfare has direct consequences for biological stability, production efficiency, and overall business sustainability.
A healthy fish with low stress levels converts feed more efficiently, requires fewer interventions, generates less waste and allows for more predictable production outcomes. That is why, for us, animal welfare is both a design principle and an efficiency tool.
Independent units
At Lago Sofía, we have spent years working under an individual recirculation logic (iRAS) by tank, where each unit operates with its own water treatment system. This philosophy originated from a very practical operational need: working with different clients, various cohorts and multiple sanitary requirements. Over time, however, we realised that it also offered enormous advantages from an animal welfare and biosecurity perspective, while greatly simplifying construction through modular systems.
When each system is independent, it becomes possible to mitigate operational risks, contain potential sanitary events, and significantly reduce the horizontal transmission of pathogens.
In practice, one of the greatest challenges of modern RAS is not producing fish - it is properly managing the waste generated by the process.
Waste management
However, I believe one of the least discussed topics surrounding RAS is waste management. Much is said about recirculation, water-use efficiency and reduced freshwater consumption, but far less attention is given to what happens to the sludge and nutrients these systems generate.
In practice, one of the greatest challenges of modern RAS is not producing fish - it is properly managing the waste generated by the process.
As recirculation rates increase and freshwater use decreases, solids and nutrients also become more concentrated and therefore require adequate treatment. Composting, biochar, energy recovery and other alternatives are advancing, but there is still considerable work ahead before we achieve truly efficient circularity.
In my view, the future of land-based aquaculture will depend precisely on our ability to integrate animal welfare, biosecurity, water efficiency and waste management into a single design philosophy.
Lessons from Chile
And this is where another particularly relevant point emerges: Chile is beginning to export RAS know-how.
For decades, Chilean salmon farming imported technology, engineering, and operational models. Today, after years of facing complex production challenges and operating intensive systems at large scale, we are beginning to develop our own expertise capable of adding value internationally.
That is precisely one of the objectives of Blue Waters Aquaculture Engineering, a company born from Lago Sofía’s experience and focused on engineering and system design. We are already involved in international projects, including initiatives linked to chinook salmon production in New Zealand for New Zealand King Salmon.
Exporting understanding
More than exporting infrastructure, I believe the real value lies in exporting technology and know-how — understanding how to design systems that integrate animal welfare, biosecurity, efficiency and flexibility from their very origin while meeting targeted performance objectives.
This does not mean we have all the answers. The industry still faces enormous technical, regulatory, and environmental challenges. But I do believe we are entering a stage where the conversation should no longer focus solely on how much we produce, but rather on how we produce it.
Because ultimately, when animal welfare is incorporated as a design principle rather than merely as a reaction, the benefits extend not only to the fish, but also to the overall sustainability of the business.
