Farmed Salmon Harvesting Welfare

The harvesting and slaughter of farmed Atlantic salmon involves significant welfare compromises including live crowding, CO2 stunning, and dewatering that cause acute distress to millions of fish.

Key Facts

Norway alone harvests approximately 350 million farmed salmon annually
Traditional harvest involves crowding fish into small areas, then pumping them live into slaughter facilities
CO2 stunning, widely used for salmon, renders fish unconscious but is considered aversive - fish show escape behavior
Percussive stunning followed by gill cutting is considered more humane but is less widely adopted
The period between crowding and slaughter can last hours, during which fish are highly stressed
Norway has implemented welfare regulations including mandatory stunning before slaughter, but global standards vary widely

Welfare Considerations

Salmon harvesting causes acute, intense welfare impacts. The crowding phase concentrates thousands of fish in rapidly shrinking space, causing crushing, oxygen depletion, and extreme physiological stress. CO2 stunning - passing fish through CO2-saturated water - causes visible escape behavior before unconsciousness, suggesting aversive experience during induction. Dewatering and handling cause additional stress. The scale of salmon harvesting - hundreds of millions of individuals annually - means that welfare improvements in the harvesting process translate to enormous aggregate welfare benefits. Better stunning methods exist and their adoption is increasing.

What You Can Do

Choose salmon certified by programs that include harvest welfare standards including effective stunning
Support regulations requiring humane stunning before salmon slaughter in all aquaculture producing countries
Reduce salmon consumption or shift to plant-based alternatives
Engage with salmon retailers and restaurants about their sourcing and welfare standards
Support organizations working on fish slaughter welfare standards
Advocate for mandatory pre-slaughter stunning requirements for all farmed fish species