Scallops are unusual bivalves that can swim by rapidly clapping their shells, with a distributed nervous system whose welfare implications are subject to scientific debate.
Scallops caught in bottom dredges experience crushing, abrasion, and disruption of their shell attachments. The scientific uncertainty around scallop sentience means their welfare status is genuinely contested. Dredge fishing causes enormous ecological damage to seabed communities regardless of scallop welfare status, with knock-on effects for many definitively sentient species. Suspended aquaculture avoids dredging damage and may represent a lower-impact production method. The active escape swimming behaviour of scallops from predators suggests some form of threat detection that may be relevant to welfare assessment.