Pre-slaughter welfare for Atlantic salmon is an active research and policy area, with effective stunning now technically feasible and increasingly being adopted in Norway.
Salmon slaughter welfare has transitioned from a theoretical concern to an active regulatory and industry change area. Norwegian regulations requiring pre-slaughter stunning represent the most significant aquaculture welfare advance in recent years. The evidence that salmon experience distress during traditional CO2 stunning is clear in behavioral studies. The technical feasibility of effective stunning is established. The welfare gap between early adoption leaders in Norway and conventional practice elsewhere remains large, with the suffering of billions of fish at stake in the transition timeline.