Wild-caught salmon face significant welfare challenges from fishing methods and handling. Understanding the welfare implications informs consumer choices and fishing practice reform.
Wild salmon welfare in commercial fishing receives far less attention than farmed salmon welfare despite the significant suffering involved in most capture methods. Purse seine netting - the dominant capture method - subjects thousands of fish to prolonged net crowding and asphyxiation before processing. The welfare harm is enormous in scale: billions of salmon caught annually under conditions that cause significant suffering. Welfare-positive alternatives exist: troll-caught salmon allows individual handling and rapid killing, but market incentives favor high-volume methods regardless of welfare impact. Welfare-conscious seafood choices that specifically seek out troll-caught or individually handled wild salmon make a meaningful welfare difference.