Shrimp Wild Capture Welfare | Animal Welfare Hub

Wild-caught shrimp fisheries raise welfare concerns including capture stress, bycatch mortality, and the manner of death, alongside well-documented environmental sustainability problems.

Key Facts

Global wild shrimp catch exceeds 3 million tonnes annually, with Southeast Asia and the Americas as major sources
Bottom trawling for shrimp catches enormous quantities of bycatch including turtles, fish, and invertebrates
Shrimp caught in trawls experience compression, physical damage, and oxygen deprivation over hours
The welfare status of shrimp is contested but evidence for nociception and stress responses is growing
Trap and pot fishing for shrimp has lower bycatch and potentially lower welfare impact than trawling

Welfare Considerations

Shrimp welfare sits at the frontier of animal welfare science. The evidence for sentience is not as strong as for vertebrates, but there is sufficient evidence of nociception and behavioral responses to harm that precautionary welfare concern is justified. The bycatch problem adds a clear welfare concern regardless of shrimp sentience - sea turtles, juvenile fish, and other bycatch species suffer demonstrably.

What You Can Do

Choose shrimp certified by the Marine Stewardship Council or equivalent sustainability schemes
Prefer trap-caught or farmed shrimp over bottom-trawled wild shrimp where possible
Support organizations working to improve shrimp fishing practices and reduce bycatch
Ask retailers and restaurants about the origin and capture method of their shrimp
Reduce shrimp consumption if sustainability and welfare concerns are important to you