Salmon farming became commercial in the early 1980s as the early challenges in the areas of breeding, feeding and fish health were overcome. The move from hunter gatherer to pastoralist and livestock keeper on land began some 8000 years ago.

By comparison salmon farming is an extremely young system of animal production. Fin fish farmers have learnt fast, however with limited knowledge in the early days some mistakes were made. Critics of fin fish farming were quick to criticise. Farmers tended to be absorbed in meeting the new challenges rather than mounting an effective response to the criticism, so some mud stuck.

Many issues have been effectively dealt with by farmers, their vets, government regulators, people passionate about the wild salmon, researchers, environmental lobby groups and consumers. So there’s been a lot of talking and quite a bit of action too.
Not every challenge has been met with a solution yet, but huge strides have been made. Scroll through the next few pages for a look at some big issues we still think a lot about.