Commercial salmon fishing causes welfare harm through catch methods, handling, and delayed mortality — reducing this harm requires method-specific interventions.
Wild salmon welfare in commercial fisheries occupies a regulatory gap: most fisheries certification addresses sustainability — the ecological welfare of populations — rather than the welfare of individual fish during capture and death. The methods used in commercial salmon fisheries cause individual welfare harm of varying duration and intensity: gill net drowning is prolonged; crowding in purse seines causes acute stress; and hook injury causes acute pain. Welfare-positive interventions — rapid capture-to-death minimization, pre-slaughter stunning where feasible, and method selection that minimizes stress duration — can reduce this harm. Consumer demand for capture welfare standards would create market pressure for voluntary adoption.