Shrimp undergo significant welfare stress during harvest, sorting, transport, and slaughter processes; improving handling practices reduces suffering across billions of animals.
If shrimp are sentient - which growing evidence supports - harvest and transport conditions represent some of the most welfare-compromising moments in their brief lives. Oxygen depletion during crowded harvest, rough handling during sorting, and prolonged dying in ice slurries all represent potential welfare harms at scale. Development of humane harvest and slaughter standards for shrimp requires urgent prioritization given the scale of production.