Welfare Concerns of Injection
Producers claim they are doing salmon a favour by boosting their immunity and increasing their life span. This may be true on the population level, but vaccination side-effects take a huge toll on salmon life nonetheless. As shown below, this salmon died from intra-abdominal lesions that was caused by the injection needle distorting the internal organs.
This salmon autopsy shows its abdomen distorted and having lesions as a result of deep needle penetration into the viscera. Such cases are numerous in a typical salmon farm and questions whether vaccinations really improve salmon welfare.
Vertebral column lesions occur in smolts that are improperly vaccinated (Berg et al, 2007). If the needle penetrates into the vertebral column, lesions may result causing abnormal vertebral column development as the picture below shows.
Vertebral column deformity as a result of improper vaccination.
From a welfare perspective, vertebral column deformities impair natural swimming behaviour (Ashley, 2007). Subsequently this may impact the salmon’s ability to interact with conspecifics or compete for food. These individuals are less likely to survive a competitive farming environment.