Farmed prawns (shrimp) are the highest-value aquaculture commodity globally, with emerging welfare standards addressing stocking density, disease, and slaughter.
Shrimp welfare sits at the intersection of scale and uncertainty. The numbers are staggering — tens of billions of shrimp are farmed annually. If shrimp are capable of experiencing pain (and the evidence increasingly suggests at least some capacity), the aggregate welfare impact is enormous. Eyestalk ablation — removing an eye with a heated blade or by constriction — is performed without anesthetic on millions of broodstock females annually. Whether this is painful remains genuinely uncertain but the precautionary response is clear: alternatives should be adopted. Disease outbreaks, oxygen depletion, and high-density crowding cause measurable stress responses. The Aquatic Life Institute's standards provide a framework for improvement, but industry adoption remains limited.