Wild salmon fisheries cause welfare harms to individual fish through capture, handling and bycatch mortality that can be reduced through better fishing practices and management.
Wild salmon fisheries affect individual fish welfare in ways that recreational and commercial fishers can meaningfully reduce through practice changes. Catch-and-release, when performed poorly, causes significant stress and mortality — eliminating the supposed conservation benefit of the practice. Evidence-based handling guidelines — minimal air exposure, wet hands, barbless hooks and quick release — substantially improve post-release survival and reduce individual suffering. These practices should be standard, not optional, in recreational salmon fishing.