How viral and bacterial diseases in shrimp farming cause mass mortality events and welfare impairment, and what biosecurity measures can help.
Disease in shrimp farming causes suffering at a scale that dwarfs most other farmed animal welfare challenges in terms of individual numbers affected. Mass mortality events involve billions of animals dying from organ failure, immune collapse, and secondary infections. Whether shrimp experience suffering in a morally relevant sense remains scientifically contested, but the precautionary principle and growing nociception research support taking preventive welfare action. Reducing disease burden through biosecurity and selective breeding benefits animal welfare, producer economics, and antibiotic resistance simultaneously.