Wild salmon face devastating population declines from dams, habitat degradation, and climate change. Their welfare and conservation intersect in the fight to restore salmon rivers worldwide.
Wild salmon welfare in degraded rivers involves significant ongoing suffering at population scale. Salmon attempting to migrate past impassable dams or through lethally warm water face physiological stress, exhaustion, and death before spawning. The welfare gains from dam removal are substantial and demonstrated: within years of removal, salmon recolonize restored habitat and populations recover. Climate-driven water warming is creating new welfare challenges that require both local interventions (riparian shade restoration, cold-water refugia protection) and broader climate action. Supporting dam removal and river restoration programs represents one of the most impactful actions available for wild fish welfare.