Live prawn transport for the fresh seafood market raises significant welfare concerns. The conditions of transport and time to death affect potential welfare outcomes for these crustaceans.
Live prawn transport welfare involves the uncertainty of crustacean sentience combined with clear evidence of physiological stress during transport. Temperature fluctuations, overcrowding, oxygen depletion, and handling during transport all affect prawn physiology. Whether these translate to subjective suffering is uncertain but increasingly considered likely given growing evidence for decapod sentience. The precautionary principle suggests minimizing unnecessary stress during transport and using the most humane practical killing methods at the point of processing. Extended live holding in retail tanks represents a prolonged potential welfare burden for uncertain benefit. Ice slurry before killing, now required in some jurisdictions for decapod crustaceans, is less aversive than other methods.