Farmed Salmon Pre-Harvest Welfare Advanced

The final weeks before salmon harvest are a critical welfare period involving crowding, transport, and slaughter - best practice minimises suffering.

Key Facts

Pre-harvest crowding reduces voluntary feed intake and increases stress in salmon
Starving salmon for 24-72 hours before slaughter is standard to empty gut contents for quality
Some farms use in-pen percussion stunning before crowding to improve welfare
Live transport to processing facilities in well-boats causes additional stress and potential injury
Percussion stunning followed by immediate bleeding is the gold standard slaughter method
Pre-harvest mortality from crowding and transport represents significant welfare failure

Welfare Considerations

Pre-harvest represents the period of greatest acute welfare risk in salmon farming. Crowding, starvation, and transport combine to create conditions of high stress and potential suffering. Welfare-conscious farms minimise crowding duration, use in-pen stunning, and work with processors committed to high-welfare slaughter methods.

What You Can Do

Choose salmon certified under standards with specific pre-harvest welfare requirements
Support RSPCA Assured salmon which includes pre-slaughter welfare standards
Advocate for mandatory pre-slaughter stunning for all farmed salmon
Ask retailers about pre-harvest welfare practices for salmon they source
Support research into in-pen stunning technology to eliminate transport welfare costs