Consumers and environmental advocacy organizations frequently recommend avoiding conventionally farmed Atlantic salmon due to the severe ecological and animal welfare concerns associated with open-net pen aquaculture. Industrial sea pens concentrate thousands of fish in cramped environments, serving as breeding grounds for parasitic sea lice and infectious diseases that frequently require chemical treatments and antibiotics. Additionally, uneaten high-protein feed and massive volumes of untreated fish waste discharge directly into surrounding fjord ecosystems, polluting the seabed. Escaped farmed fish also threaten native wild populations through genetic interbreeding, which dilutes the evolutionary resilience of wild salmon.