Freshwater mussels are among the most endangered animal groups globally, with welfare implications both for wild populations under threat and for the aquaculture and restoration programmes that work with them.
Freshwater mussel welfare occupies the frontier of invertebrate welfare science where sentience and pain capacity are poorly characterised. The scale of freshwater mussel mortality from habitat degradation, invasive species, and pollution is enormous, but the welfare significance of this mortality depends on unresolved questions about mussel experience. The precautionary principle suggests minimising stress during restoration handling and propagation procedures. More importantly, the habitat conditions that prevent mussel die-offs — clean water, appropriate temperature, intact fish communities — are the primary welfare interventions regardless of how mussel sentience is ultimately characterised.