Wild salmon face extraordinary physical demands during migration, compounded by human-caused stressors including dams, warming rivers, and fishing pressure.
Wild salmon experience profound physical and physiological challenges during their life cycle, and human activities layer additional stressors onto already-demanding journeys. The welfare implications of catch-and-release angling deserve more attention: the practice is sometimes presented as harm-free, but physiological stress from capture and handling can cause significant suffering and impair post-release survival. Climate change is making salmon welfare increasingly difficult to maintain even in the absence of other pressures.