Shrimp aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production sectors, but welfare considerations for these crustaceans have been largely ignored. Growing scientific evidence of shrimp sentience is changing this.
The welfare status of shrimp has been scientifically contested but evidence has been moving toward acknowledging their capacity for pain and suffering. Shrimp show avoidance learning, wound-guarding behaviors, and physiological stress responses consistent with pain experience. The scale of shrimp production makes this a potentially enormous welfare issue - trillions of shrimp may experience significant suffering from disease, crowding, and non-stunned slaughter annually. A precautionary welfare approach applies welfare improvements proportional to the probability and potential severity of shrimp suffering. Reducing stocking densities, improving water quality management, and developing stunning methods for harvest are priority interventions.