Abalone farming is an important aquaculture sector in several countries. The sentience status of mollusks and their welfare in captive systems deserves growing attention.
The welfare status of farmed abalone sits at the frontier of our understanding of invertebrate sentience. Unlike decapod crustaceans, gastropod mollusks have more limited nervous systems. However, they do show nociceptive responses to tissue damage and behavioral avoidance of noxious stimuli. Given scientific uncertainty, the precautionary principle suggests providing good environmental conditions (appropriate temperature, oxygenation, and density) to minimize physiological stress whether or not abalone experience subjective suffering. Anesthetic methods using clove oil or similar compounds that cause insensibility before killing are available and represent a welfare-positive approach under uncertainty.