Mud crabs are farmed and held live across South and South-East Asia, with welfare concerns around limb ligation, crowding, live transport, and the absence of welfare standards for this commercially important crustacean.
Limb ligation in mud crabs prevents normal locomotion, feeding, and defence behaviour for the duration of transport and live storage. Where ligatures are tied tightly, tissue damage and infection result. Crowded live tanks with inadequate water quality cause hypoxic stress and elevated mortality. Live boiling is the primary killing method, raising the same concerns as for other decapod crustaceans. Wild-caught mud crabs experience severe capture stress during trap hauling and sorting. Farmed individuals in poor pond conditions develop shell disease and moulting complications.