Shrimp farming conditions including stocking density, water quality, and substrate availability significantly affect welfare for animals whose sentience is increasingly recognized by science.
Shrimp farming welfare requires applying the same precautionary logic to shrimp that has been applied to fish - given meaningful evidence of sentience and the enormous scale of production, welfare consideration is warranted even under scientific uncertainty. High stocking densities cause competition and stress indicators in shrimp; poor water quality causes acute distress; absence of substrate removes refugia that buffer social stress. The welfare improvements are technically straightforward and some are economically neutral or positive through reduced mortality. The barrier is primarily the absence of regulatory requirements and market pressure for shrimp welfare certification.