Shrimp aquaculture kills hundreds of billions of animals annually with almost no welfare standards or consideration.
Shrimp share the same challenge as other invertebrates: the evidence for conscious suffering is uncertain but growing. Eyestalk ablation causes clear behavioral distress. Hyperdense stocking causes chronic stress responses. Death by suffocation on ice is prolonged. The precautionary principle and the sheer scale of shrimp production — hundreds of billions of animals — makes this one of the most urgent welfare challenges in aquaculture.