Slaughter is a critical welfare moment for farmed salmon. Current methods vary widely in their humaneness, and evidence-based improvements can significantly reduce suffering at end of life.
Salmon slaughter welfare represents one of the largest per-animal welfare improvements available in aquaculture. The scale — hundreds of millions of fish — means that marginal improvements per individual translate to enormous aggregate welfare gains. Methods like CO² immersion and live chilling, which cause minutes of aversive experience before incapacitation, are clearly inferior to electrical or percussive stunning methods that cause immediate unconsciousness when properly applied. Pre-slaughter welfare is equally important — crowding, air exposure, and rough handling before slaughter compound stress and pain. Consumer and regulatory pressure is driving adoption of better methods, but inconsistency remains across the industry.