Salmon harvest methods significantly affect welfare in the final moments of life. Effective stunning before killing prevents unnecessary suffering for billions of farmed fish annually.
Salmon slaughter welfare represents one of the largest scale welfare problems in animal agriculture. Until recently, asphyxiation in air or ice slurry was standard practice — a method known to cause prolonged conscious suffering lasting many minutes. The scale of salmon production means that even small per-fish welfare improvements affect suffering for billions of animals. Effective electrical stunning, where properly implemented, renders fish instantaneously unconscious with no evidence of pain. The challenge is consistent implementation at scale and the capital investment required for stunning equipment. Welfare-conscious consumers and certification requirements are creating industry incentives for adoption of humane slaughter protocols.