Abalone are marine gastropod molluscs farmed extensively in South Africa, Australia, China, and Japan. Their welfare requirements are increasingly studied as production expands globally.
Abalone in poorly managed systems experience oxygen depletion stress, particularly during warm weather when dissolved oxygen levels fall. Disease outbreaks cause mortality events that represent both welfare and economic losses. Crowding in tanks increases competition for food and resting space. Handling during sorting and grading causes locomotion attempts and withdrawal responses consistent with stress. Whether abalone have the neural complexity to experience pain in a morally significant way remains uncertain, but precautionary welfare management is consistent with good practice.