The final hours of a farmed salmon's life involve crowding, pumping, and slaughter. Improving pre-slaughter welfare is a high-impact area for the salmon aquaculture industry.
Pre-slaughter welfare represents one of the most tractable welfare improvements available in salmon aquaculture. The evidence for fish sentience — including the ability to experience pain and distress — has grown substantially, and the salmon industry faces growing pressure to address welfare at the point of slaughter. Percussive or electrical stunning followed by rapid bleeding is the best-practice approach, rendering fish unconscious before they experience the physical process of killing. CO2 stunning, historically common, is increasingly recognized as aversive and is being phased out in progressive facilities. Crowding and pumping stress prior to stunning are also welfare concerns. Regulatory standards, certification requirements, and consumer pressure are all driving industry adoption of humane slaughter methods for salmon.