Shrimp are farmed in enormous quantities globally, and emerging research on crustacean sentience raises significant welfare questions about industry practices including eyestalk ablation and slaughter methods.
Shrimp welfare exists at the frontier of animal welfare science, where emerging evidence of sentience collides with industries that have operated without welfare consideration for decades. Eyestalk ablation is a particularly significant practice - performed on enormous numbers of animals with clear behavioral indicators of pain - for which less harmful alternatives to stimulate spawning exist. Consumer awareness and certification scheme development are beginning to create welfare pressure on an industry with enormous welfare impact.