Farmed prawns are produced at enormous scale in tropical systems with minimal welfare oversight, despite growing evidence that prawns have nociceptors and show pain-avoiding behaviour.
Farmed prawn welfare sits at the frontier of applied welfare science. The evidence for prawn sentience — nociceptors, avoidance learning, analgesic responses — is less definitive than for vertebrates but stronger than commonly assumed. The scale of production means that even a small probability of morally relevant suffering translates to enormous aggregate welfare concern. Current killing methods including rapid chilling and live freezing are likely to cause distress if prawns are sentient. Certification schemes including the Aquaculture Stewardship Council are beginning to address crustacean welfare, but standards remain minimal and largely unenforced.