Crayfish are increasingly farmed for food, yet their capacity for pain and stress is poorly understood and welfare standards for their production are almost entirely absent.
Crayfish occupy a regulatory grey zone: they are crustaceans, and until recently were widely assumed to lack the neurological complexity for meaningful pain experience. Emerging research challenges this assumption, showing stress hormone responses, avoidance learning, and anxiety-like behaviour. The high volume of production combined with the absence of welfare standards means potentially billions of animals are exposed to slaughter methods that may cause significant suffering. Switzerland has extended animal welfare protection to decapod crustaceans including crayfish, and the UK has included them in its Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Expanding such recognition globally, and developing humane stunning and slaughter protocols, is an urgent welfare priority.