Is this the future of salmon breeding? The fish on land
The Times reports on the growing shift toward land-based salmon farming as companies look for ways to meet seafood demand while reducing the environmental impacts linked to open-net pen aquaculture.
The article highlights concerns with conventional ocean-based salmon farms, including escapes, pollution, disease, sea lice, fish welfare issues, and the risk of farmed salmon interbreeding with wild Atlantic salmon. It also points to emerging land-based projects in places such as Iceland, Norway, and the U.K., where salmon are raised in controlled indoor systems that can recycle water, collect waste, and reduce exposure to marine threats.
While the article notes that land-based systems still face questions around cost, energy use, and scalability, it presents them as an increasingly serious alternative to open-net pen farming and a potential path toward producing salmon with fewer risks to wild fish and coastal ecosystems.