Rainbow trout is one of the most widely farmed fish globally, yet welfare standards in trout production lag behind salmon despite comparable sentience and stress responses.
Rainbow trout welfare deserves equivalent attention to that given to farmed salmon, as these fish share comparable neurobiological complexity, stress responses, and capacity for suffering. The large volume of trout produced globally means that even modest per-animal welfare improvements represent enormous aggregate reductions in suffering. Welfare priority areas include stocking density management, water quality, handling minimisation, pre-slaughter stunning, and nutritional management to prevent cataracts. The development of electrical or percussive stunning systems appropriate for trout slaughter is technically achievable and increasingly commercially available. Consumer and retailer pressure has been effective in driving salmon welfare improvements and can be similarly directed at trout welfare standards.