How disease management in shrimp aquaculture affects animal welfare and what approaches minimize both disease burden and treatment welfare costs.
Shrimp disease management sits at the intersection of welfare, environmental sustainability, and antimicrobial resistance. Disease outbreaks cause mass mortality events involving large numbers of potentially sentient animals dying from pathogenic infection — a welfare harm compounded by the fact that early warning signs of disease in shrimp may indicate suffering before death occurs. Prevention through biosecure production, optimal water quality management, and appropriate stocking density is preferable to reactive chemical treatment both for welfare and environmental reasons. Reducing stocking densities that contribute to immune compromise and disease pressure is one of the most meaningful welfare improvements available, simultaneously reducing disease burden and direct crowding stress for surviving animals.