Managing invasive species in aquatic environments often involves lethal control methods that raise welfare questions. Balancing ecological restoration with welfare considerations is an emerging challenge.
Aquatic invasive species management presents a genuine welfare dilemma: allowing invasive species to continue unchecked causes welfare harm to native species through predation and competition, while control methods themselves cause welfare harm to the invasive individuals removed. There are no pain-free solutions in ecological restoration contexts. Welfare-conscious invasive species management should prefer methods that minimise duration of suffering, target invasive species specifically, and consider welfare costs explicitly in management decisions. This emerging field requires collaboration between ecologists and welfare scientists to develop evidence-based, welfare-informed protocols.