Disease is a major cause of welfare compromise and production loss in shrimp aquaculture. Preventive biosecurity approaches improve both animal welfare and sustainability.
Disease outbreaks in shrimp aquaculture cause mass mortality that represents both an enormous welfare harm and a production catastrophe. The scale of suffering when a pond succumbs to WSSV or EMS — with billions of shrimp dying within days — is staggering. Preventive biosecurity investments that reduce outbreak frequency and severity provide welfare benefits proportionate to this scale. Early detection systems that enable prompt pond management decisions, including humane harvest of affected populations before complete disease progression, reduce the extent of mass suffering.