Disease is the primary cause of welfare compromise and production loss in shrimp aquaculture, with prevention-focused approaches offering the best outcomes for both shrimp welfare and farm sustainability.
Disease in shrimp farming causes welfare harm through the suffering of affected individuals — behavioral changes, reduced feeding, and death — and through the management responses disease triggers: pond treatments with chemicals, emergency harvests of stressed animals, and mass mortality events. The most welfare-positive farms invest heavily in disease prevention: SPF broodstock, biosecure water systems, appropriate stocking densities, and rapid detection protocols. Prevention-focused farming is simultaneously the most welfare-positive and most economically resilient approach. Consumer support for producers demonstrating biosecurity investment rewards the practices most likely to improve both welfare and sustainability.