Pre-harvest crowding of farmed Atlantic salmon is one of the most acute and widespread welfare challenges in aquaculture. Improving this phase benefits millions of fish annually.
Pre-harvest crowding represents the most acute welfare event in the farmed salmon production cycle, combining extreme stress, physical injury risk, and oxygen deprivation into a brief but intense period. The welfare harm is compounded when fish are slaughtered from maximum stress conditions without any recovery. Certification standards that limit crowding duration and density, and require effective stunning before slaughter, directly reduce this welfare impact. Consumer purchasing choices that support certified higher-welfare salmon create the market incentive for producers to invest in welfare-positive pre-harvest management.