The slaughter of farmed Atlantic salmon is the final welfare event in the production cycle and one of the most important. The methods used vary significantly in their welfare outcomes, and improvement is both achievable and increasingly required by certification schemes.
Salmon slaughter welfare represents the final opportunity to prevent suffering in the production cycle. For fish that have been appropriately reared and managed through all prior welfare challenges, a poorly conducted slaughter can impose unnecessary suffering at the very end. Ice slurry without prior stunning maintains fish consciousness in a low-oxygen, thermally stressful environment for minutes — a duration and severity of distress that welfare scientists have categorised as unacceptable by contemporary standards. Electrical stunning systems that cause muscular tetany (paralysis) without confirmed insensibility produce fish that appear still but may remain conscious — distinguishing paralysis from anaesthesia requires careful verification. The gold standard of percussive or electrical stunning confirmed by corneal reflex testing before bleeding provides a welfare-positive slaughter outcome but requires trained staff and appropriate equipment. Regulatory requirements for effective stunning before salmon slaughter are strengthening in Europe and increasingly reflected in certification scheme audits.