Shrimp are among the most widely consumed seafood globally, yet their welfare in aquaculture is almost entirely overlooked. Emerging research on crustacean sentience is changing how scientists and advocates view shrimp welfare.
Shrimp represent one of the largest potential welfare blind spots in food systems. If they are sentient — and the evidence increasingly suggests decapods likely are — the scale of suffering in global shrimp aquaculture is enormous. The welfare conditions in many shrimp farms are poor: high stocking densities, poor water quality, disease stress, and inhumane killing methods. Because shrimp are small, aquatic, and unfamiliar in their expressions of distress, their suffering is easy to overlook. But moral consideration should follow evidence of sentience, not body size or relatability.