Farmed Salmon Harvest Welfare | Animal Welfare Hub

Salmon harvest methods significantly affect end-of-life welfare, with the time from removal from water to slaughter being a critical welfare determinant.

Key Facts

Crowding to facilitate harvest is one of the most acute stress events in farmed salmon production
Pre-harvest fasting for 1-3 days reduces digestive content but extends fasting stress
Time from crowding to slaughter should ideally be under 15 minutes for welfare reasons
Percussive stunning at harvest causes rapid loss of consciousness before killing
Carbon dioxide narcosis is still used in some harvest operations despite evidence of aversiveness

Welfare Considerations

Salmon harvest welfare combines multiple acute welfare challenges in a short time period. Crowding — concentrating fish in reducing pen volumes — causes acute physiological stress. Transport in water tanks to the processing facility adds duration to the stressful experience. The slaughter method — percussive stunning, electrical stunning, or CO2 narcosis — determines the quality of the end-of-life welfare. The cumulative welfare cost of the harvest period depends on minimising crowding density and duration, providing adequate water oxygen during transport, and using the most effective and rapid stunning method available. Best practice guidelines that specify maximum duration from crowding to stunning represent significant potential welfare improvement across the salmon industry.

What You Can Do

Choose salmon from farms certified to high harvest welfare standards
Ask retailers about the harvest methods used by their salmon suppliers
Advocate for maximum crowding-to-slaughter time standards in aquaculture regulation
Support research into the most welfare-positive salmon harvest methods