Wild Atlantic and Pacific salmon populations face threats from overfishing, habitat degradation, and hatchery practices that affect their welfare. Understanding salmon sentience informs how we manage these iconic fish.
Salmon welfare deserves serious consideration based on their demonstrated capacity for pain and stress. Hatchery conditions including extreme density, poor water quality, and handling procedures cause chronic physiological stress. Wild salmon face welfare challenges from habitat degradation, fishing injuries (hooking causes tissue damage and stress even in catch-and-release), and the gauntlet of predators and obstacles on migration routes. Sea lice infestations from fish farms cause painful lesions on wild salmon. Climate-driven warming of rivers creates thermal stress as water temperatures approach lethal limits. Dam removal and habitat restoration benefit salmon welfare as well as conservation.