Shrimp are produced in enormous numbers globally with minimal welfare consideration, despite growing evidence that crustaceans may experience pain.
The welfare question for shrimp centres on whether their nervous systems generate subjective experience of pain. Scientific evidence suggests decapod crustaceans including shrimp have nociceptors and show learnt avoidance behaviours consistent with pain experience, though the nature and intensity of any such experience remains uncertain. Boiling alive and freezing without prior stunning cause potentially prolonged physiological stress. Given the scale of production, even a low probability of meaningful suffering represents an enormous welfare concern. The Shrimp Welfare Project is leading efforts to develop practical welfare improvements for this underregulated species.