Shrimp aquaculture produces over 5 million tonnes annually with hundreds of billions of individuals involved, and growing evidence of shrimp nociception has placed welfare at the center of a rapidly evolving scientific and ethical debate.
Shrimp welfare science has advanced rapidly, with evidence now sufficient for regulatory bodies to include decapod crustaceans in sentience frameworks. The scale of shrimp production makes welfare improvements across this species potentially among the most impactful possible — hundreds of billions of animals could benefit from more humane management and slaughter methods. Eyestalk ablation is particularly concerning: removing the eyestalks without anesthesia to suppress reproductive hormones is painful and caused significant welfare harm to broodstock animals. Rapid chilling before slaughter has been identified as a welfare-positive approach for shrimp. Disease management through improved biosecurity rather than antibiotic treatment is advancing as both a welfare and sustainability improvement. Consumer awareness of shrimp welfare is very low relative to the scale of the issue.