Crabs are caught in enormous numbers globally in trap and trawl fisheries. The evidence for crab sentience continues to grow, making their welfare in fishing contexts an increasingly serious concern.
Crab welfare in commercial fishing is at a critical juncture where scientific evidence for sentience is growing faster than industry practices and regulations are adapting. The 2022 UK recognition of decapod sentience represents a regulatory inflection point, but applies only to aquaculture and entertainment, not wild-caught fisheries. The scale of crab fishing means that even small improvements in handling and slaughter methods could prevent enormous amounts of potential suffering. The most pressing welfare issues are: the duration of confinement in traps before hauling, air exposure during sorting and processing, and slaughter methods including live boiling and live chilling practices that may not minimize suffering.