Crowding salmon before harvest causes significant acute welfare problems. Optimising pre-harvest procedures to minimise crowding stress is an important welfare intervention that also improves product quality.
Pre-harvest crowding is a significant and often underappreciated welfare event. Fish are compressed into extremely high densities, causing physical injury, oxygen depletion, and extreme stress hormonal responses. Minimising crowding duration, ensuring rapid and effective stunning, and designing crowding systems to minimise density and injury are critical welfare interventions at the most visible point in the production cycle.