Biological control approaches to shrimp disease management reduce reliance on antibiotics and chemicals that cause welfare compromise and environmental damage in aquaculture systems.
Biological disease control approaches benefit shrimp welfare by reducing the need for chemical and antibiotic treatments that cause stress alongside their therapeutic effects. Antibiotic treatments that do not adequately address disease while causing additional physiological stress represent the worst welfare outcome for shrimp already compromised by infection. Biological control that maintains lower pathogen populations through competitive exclusion prevents the initiation of disease rather than managing it after welfare harm has occurred. The shift toward biological management also has secondary welfare benefits for wild organisms in receiving waters, as reduced antibiotic discharge prevents resistance development in environmental bacterial communities that affects the broader aquatic ecosystem.