Pre-slaughter handling and slaughter methods in salmon aquaculture have significant welfare implications. Percussive stunning and rapid gill cutting represent the current best practice for minimizing suffering.
Pre-slaughter welfare in salmon aquaculture has improved significantly but remains inconsistent across the industry. Traditional slaughter by asphyxia or carbon dioxide exposure causes prolonged distress that is unjustifiable given the availability of more humane alternatives. The evidence that salmon experience nociception is sufficiently robust to warrant precautionary protection during slaughter. Certification schemes that require effective stunning before slaughter, and reduction in pre-harvest crowding stress, represent meaningful welfare improvements for the hundreds of millions of salmon processed annually.