Crayfish are increasingly farmed globally for food, and growing evidence of their capacity for pain and stress raises important welfare questions about current production practices.
Crayfish welfare is at a similar inflection point to fish welfare two decades ago — scientific evidence of sentience is building faster than regulatory frameworks can adapt. Animals that experience nociception, show avoidance learning, and exhibit stress responses to adverse conditions deserve welfare consideration in farming systems. Current practices — overcrowded tanks that cause limb loss through aggression, live boiling without stunning, and long dry transport — cause suffering that is preventable with available technology. The recognition of decapod sentience in UK law is a landmark that should prompt welfare standard development in all farming and processing contexts.