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High dissolved CO2 levels in tank water are potentially detrimental to the production and welfare of Atlantic salmon smolts in Norwegian hatcheries. A potential welfare action for reducing CO2 levels is to deploy CO2 stripping technology. The economic consequences of using this approach were modelled using a bio-economic decision analysis tool. Results from the model showed that farmers can improve fish welfare and their profits by utilizing CO2 stripping technology, as costs of implementing the welfare action were less than the potential bio-economic benefits that can be achieved through improved productivity and any potential added value for improving the welfare of smolts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fin damage can be common in farmed juvenile Atlantic salmon and is both directly harmful to the welfare of the fish and a potential sign of poor rearing conditions. Fin damage can be reduced during freshwater production by the use of feeding systems that deliver food in accordance with the fish's current appetite, rather than at fixed times. The bio-economic implications of feeding fish to appetite using demand feeding technology were modelled with the BENEFISH decision analysis tool. Using figures for Scottish smolt production, results from the model show that implementing demand feeders generates welfare benefits, but at a clear economic cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarizes the framework that translated data from multiple disciplines into a bio-economic decision tool for modeling the costs and benefits of improving fish welfare in commercial aquaculture. This decision tool formed the basis of a recent EU research project, BENEFISH which was funded via the European Commission's Sixth Framework (FP6) initiative. The bio-economic decision model can incorporate biological data, productivity data, micro (farm) and macro (industry) level economic data, and consumer marketing and business to business data. It can identify areas for potential added value that might be achieved by improving fish welfare across a range of species and husbandry systems within European aquaculture. This article provides a brief overview of the minimum data requirements for successfully modeling the bio-economic impacts of improvements in farmed fish welfare using the model developed during the BENEFISH project. It also highlights potential bottlenecks and the minimum prerequisites for each potential data set to be used for successful modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]