Why are there deformed fish in salmon pens?

In any animal population there are individuals born with deformities, or who suffer from stunted growth or injuries. This is no different in a fish population, and although rare, the protection of the farm enables “poor performing” individuals to survive.

When possible, we remove these individuals from the population, and fish that do not meet our quality standards will not enter the market for sale. The images of several deformed or small fish provided to the media were selected from hundreds of hours of footage gathered by activists trespassing on Marine Harvest worksites in BC. The images do not accurately represent the condition of the fish population.