Farmed Salmon Post-Harvest Welfare: Slaughter and the Final Moment

Slaughter is the final welfare event for farmed salmon. Methods vary widely in humaneness, and industry adoption of best practice electrical and percussive stunning remains inconsistent.

Key Facts

Norway, Scotland, and Chile produce the majority of global farmed Atlantic salmon
CO2 asphyxiation, once common, is now recognized as aversive and is being phased out in some markets
Electrical stunning followed by percussion or gill cut is considered best practice by welfare scientists
Percussive stunning alone is fast and reliable when applied correctly by trained operators
The time from stunning to brain death is critical; prolonged delays cause recovery and distress
Crowding before slaughter causes significant acute stress, elevated cortisol, and meat quality problems
Fasting before slaughter is standard practice to reduce gut contents but must be managed to avoid excess duration
Certification schemes including GLOBALG.A.P. and Best Aquaculture Practices now include slaughter welfare criteria

Welfare Considerations

Slaughter welfare for farmed salmon has improved significantly in jurisdictions where electrical or percussive stunning is required, but the gap between best practice and common practice remains wide globally. CO2 immersion, which causes distress as fish struggle at the surface, is still used at scale in some production systems. The mechanics of salmon slaughter — crowding, netting, transfer, stunning, and bleed-out — create a chain of welfare events where failures at any stage can result in fish regaining consciousness before death. Consumer and retailer pressure through certification requirements has proved effective at driving adoption of better methods: producers who supply certified markets demonstrate that electrical stunning at commercial scale is technically and economically feasible.

What You Can Do

Choose salmon certified by schemes that require electrical or percussive stunning at slaughter
Urge supermarkets and food companies to require humane slaughter standards from salmon suppliers
Support research into best-practice salmon slaughter methods and their commercial scalability
Advocate for regulatory requirements for electrical stunning in major salmon producing countries
Donate to aquatic animal welfare organizations working on fish slaughter reform
Raise awareness about salmon slaughter welfare among consumers who purchase farmed salmon