The mangrove mud crab is a high-value aquaculture species across Southeast Asia, with welfare challenges from its aggressive nature and live market trade.
Mud crab welfare encompasses both the welfare during production and the conditions of live market trade. Individual tube fattening systems, while effective for product quality, severely restrict movement and social behaviour. The aggressive nature of the species means group housing without restraint leads to injury and mortality, creating a genuine management dilemma between welfare harms from confinement versus welfare harms from aggression. Live transport in low-water conditions for market trade causes progressive stress and hypoxia. Developing welfare-conscious standards for this species requires balancing species-specific biological realities with evidence-based welfare improvements.