Scientific evidence increasingly supports nociception and likely pain experience in crabs, with significant implications for how they are handled, stored, and killed in aquaculture and fishing industries.
The welfare status of crabs has shifted dramatically as evidence for nociception and likely conscious pain experience has accumulated. The precautionary principle applied to crustacean welfare suggests that handling and killing methods should minimize potential suffering even where certainty about sentience remains incomplete. The gap between scientific evidence and industry practice remains large: live boiling and cramped live storage are standard practices in commercial crab production despite evidence suggesting these cause significant suffering. Consumer demand for humanely killed crustaceans and regulatory progress following UK legal recognition of crustacean sentience are creating momentum for change.