Whelks and periwinkles are harvested in large numbers from intertidal and subtidal zones, raising questions about welfare in animals with simple but functional nervous systems.
Whelk and periwinkle welfare sits at the edge of current animal welfare science: their nervous systems are complex enough to process noxious stimuli, but the probability of subjective pain experience remains uncertain. The precautionary welfare principle suggests that the simplest, most rapid killing method should be preferred, and that the scale of harvest — millions of animals annually — warrants attention. This is an area where welfare science and regulatory attention are currently minimal relative to the numbers involved.