Scientific evidence increasingly supports the capacity of crustaceans like shrimp, crabs, and lobsters to experience pain, with significant implications for how they are treated.
The welfare of crustaceans represents one of the fastest-evolving frontiers in animal welfare science and policy. Until recently, the assumption that crustaceans lack the neural complexity for pain experience was used to justify their being boiled alive and subject to other practices causing severe trauma without concern. This view is changing rapidly as behavioral, physiological, and neurological evidence accumulates. The formal recognition of crustacean sentience in legislation is a significant moment, though enforcement and industry practice lag far behind. Given the billions of animals involved, improving crustacean welfare through adoption of humane killing methods could represent one of the highest-impact welfare interventions available.