Commercial crab fishing in the UK raises welfare questions about pot capture, deck handling, and live transport given growing evidence for crustacean sentience.
Crabs experience capture stress during pot fishing and prolonged holding before landing. The time spent confined in pots with other crabs causes injury from aggression. Live transport and holding in inadequate conditions causes sustained welfare impairment. Traditional live boiling is the primary slaughter method with increasing welfare concern given sentience evidence. More humane killing methods including spiking or electrocution are available but not widely adopted. The UK's sentience recognition for crabs creates a policy framework for welfare improvement across the catching and processing chain.