Shrimp farming produces over 5 million metric tons annually and involves billions of animals whose capacity for suffering is scientifically recognized but almost entirely ignored in welfare standards and consumer awareness.
Shrimp welfare represents one of the largest and most overlooked welfare issues in animal agriculture. The sheer number of animals involved - hundreds of billions annually - means that even small probabilities of sentience translate to enormous potential suffering. Eyestalk ablation, performed without pain relief on broodstock shrimp, is a procedure that would be prohibited in vertebrate aquaculture in most developed countries. Extreme crowding likely causes stress-related immune suppression and behavioral disruption. The slaughter of shrimp by chilling or live processing, without any stunning, ignores growing evidence that they can experience nociceptive distress.