Harvest is the highest welfare-risk point in salmon farming. Pre-slaughter stunning and welfare-conscious handling can eliminate much of the suffering that currently occurs at this stage.
The harvest of farmed salmon involves some of the highest-density animal welfare harms in aquaculture. Traditional methods involving crowding, air exposure, and ice-bath death without stunning can cause minutes of conscious suffering for each fish. Effective electrical stunning renders fish unconscious within milliseconds and is now commercially viable at scale. The shift toward humane slaughter in salmon farming is one of the most tractable welfare improvements available — the technology exists, costs are manageable, and regulatory and market pressure is growing.