Prawns and shrimp represent the world's most valuable seafood trade. Welfare considerations for these crustaceans — whose sentience is increasingly supported by evidence — are largely absent from current production standards.
Prawn welfare sits at an important juncture: the scientific evidence for decapod crustacean sentience has advanced sufficiently to prompt legislative change in Europe, yet global production practices remain largely unchanged. Eyestalk ablation of broodstock females — painful mutilation performed without anaesthesia to manipulate reproductive cycles — is among the most clearly unjustified practices in aquaculture. Research into alternatives including environmental manipulation for natural spawning induction makes the practice unnecessary in principle. Slaughter welfare is similarly unaddressed; alternatives to ice slurry including rapid chilling and electrical stunning exist and could be deployed at scale. The challenge is translating evidence and legislation into global production change when the bulk of production occurs in countries without equivalent regulatory frameworks.