Pre-slaughter stunning for Atlantic salmon is becoming standard practice in welfare-certified aquaculture, with percussion, electrical, and carbon dioxide methods having distinct welfare profiles.
Pre-slaughter stunning for salmon represents one of the most significant practical welfare improvements achievable in aquaculture. Traditional slaughter without stunning leaves fish conscious during the painful process of exsanguination — a welfare failure that certification schemes and progressive retailers are increasingly requiring be addressed. Electrical stunning, when properly applied, renders salmon instantaneously and reversibly insensible, providing a brief window for killing through gill cut or spiking. Percussion stunning requires more precision but is also effective. Carbon dioxide, while widely used historically, causes aversive behavioral responses suggesting it is itself a significant welfare harm rather than a humane stunning method. The transition to electrical or percussion stunning across global salmon slaughter represents achievable, high-impact welfare improvement.