Salmon are conscious, sentient fish capable of experiencing pain. The welfare of salmon in the final moments before slaughter depends critically on effective stunning and killing methods.
The welfare of farmed salmon at slaughter is one of the most significant animal welfare issues in food production, given the enormous numbers involved — hundreds of millions of salmon are killed each year. Methods that cause prolonged suffering, such as CO2 narcosis followed by bleeding, or simple asphyxiation in air, expose fish to minutes of conscious distress. Effective stunning — whether percussive or electrical — can reduce this to seconds. The welfare cost of failing to stun is multiplied across an entire industry. Progress has been made in some countries: Norway requires electrical or percussive stunning for salmon slaughter. However, global standards remain inconsistent, and the vast majority of farmed fish worldwide are killed without effective stunning. Consumer pressure, certification schemes, and regulatory change are all needed to drive improvements.