The CrowdMonitor handbook for commercial net pens v0.1: an updated welfare indicator toolbox and crowding intensity scales for measuring and monitoring Atlantic salmon welfare during crowding operations

Summary

This handbook is an output of the FHF - Fiskeri- og havbruksnæringens forskningsfinansiering (the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund) funded project “CrowdMonitor” (grant agreement number 901595). The CrowdMonitor project “Monitoring and optimising the crowding of Atlantic salmon using emerging health and welfare indicators” aimed to update our scientific and operational knowledge on the crowding of Atlantic salmon in net pens using an updated suite of operational and laboratory-based welfare indicators (OWIs and LABWIs). It involved two Norwegian research partners (Nofima and the Institute of Marine Research) and two commercial partners (Cermaq Norway AS and Grieg Seafood ASA). This handbook builds upon and expands existing welfare indicator toolboxes, suggests new crowding intensity scales and recommendations for aiding the crowding of Atlantic salmon in net pens based upon the results of the CrowdMonitor project, other relevant projects, other information sources, and an updated scientific state of the art. The suggestions we provide are no guarantee of crowding outcomes and are meant as guidance and support for personnel involved in monitoring and managing the crowd.