Welfare considerations for farmed shrimp given their scale of production, emerging sentience evidence and current production practices.
Farmed shrimp present the largest scale welfare question in aquaculture given the volume of individuals involved and the emerging evidence of shrimp sentience capacity. The scale of production means that even if the probability of individual shrimp sentience is modest, the aggregate welfare stakes are enormous. Eyestalk ablation, which causes obvious acute damage to produce reproductive hormones, represents a practice that most welfare scientists would consider requiring justification and alternatives even under sentience uncertainty. Intensive stocking densities and variable water quality management in developing world shrimp farms create conditions likely to cause stress responses in animals that demonstrably respond to noxious stimuli. Consumer choices favoring certified products and reduction of shrimp consumption overall represent the most accessible leverage points for welfare improvement at this enormous scale.