Wild Salmon Welfare and Fisheries Management

Commercial salmon fishing raises welfare questions about catch methods, handling, and the welfare of bycatch species caught alongside target salmon.

Key Facts

Pacific salmon are anadromous, migrating from ocean to freshwater to spawn in their birth rivers
Commercial salmon fishing methods include trolling, gillnetting, and seine netting
Gillnets catch salmon indiscriminately, causing bycatch of non-target species and less preferred salmon stocks
Hook-and-line trolling has significantly lower bycatch and welfare impact than net methods
Salmon caught but not immediately killed may suffer for extended periods in crowded holding tanks

Welfare Considerations

Wild salmon fishing has welfare implications at every stage from catch to processing. Gillnet and seine methods catch fish that may survive for extended periods in nets, undergoing progressive stress and suffocation. Bycatch species including marine mammals and seabirds face drowning in gillnets. Trolling and other hook-and-line methods allow greater selectivity and quicker individual killing, representing better welfare outcomes. Consumer preference for MSC-certified and method-specified salmon products can drive shifts toward lower-welfare-impact fishing methods across the industry.

What You Can Do

Choose wild salmon from troll-caught certified sources over gillnet-caught alternatives
Look for MSC certification plus method-of-capture labeling when purchasing wild salmon
Support policies that incentivize selective fishing methods with lower bycatch and welfare impact
Advocate for mandatory handling standards that minimize suffering time between catch and kill in salmon fisheries