Fish slaughter methods vary enormously in their welfare impact. Moving away from live chilling and asphyxiation toward rapid stunning methods represents one of the most impactful welfare improvements possible in aquaculture.
Fish slaughter welfare is one of the most tractable high-impact interventions available to aquaculture. Switching from live chilling or asphyxiation to percussive or electrical stunning before slaughter requires modest investment but delivers dramatic welfare improvement across enormous numbers of animals. Salmon kill stations now commonly use automated percussive or electrical stunning followed by immediate spiking (pithing). For smaller species like trout, electrical stunning lines are available. The commercial incentive aligns with welfare — stressed fish at slaughter produce inferior flesh quality through elevated cortisol and premature rigor. Welfare improvement is simultaneously quality improvement.