Razor clams are harvested by hydraulic dredge and electric pulse fishing across European coasts, with precautionary welfare considerations around capture stress and processing for these commercially important bivalves.
The strong burrowing escape response of razor clams suggests at minimum a nociceptive system capable of motivating avoidance behaviour. Whether this constitutes subjective suffering in bivalves remains scientifically uncertain. Hydraulic dredging disrupts and damages surrounding benthic habitat, affecting wider marine ecosystem welfare. Electric pulse exposure may cause muscle damage in some clam species. Live steaming or boiling causes visible muscle contractions suggesting acute physiological stress responses, though the subjective experience remains debated. Precautionary welfare consideration is increasingly being applied to bivalves in the scientific literature.