Shrimp aquaculture is one of the world's fastest-growing food sectors, raising significant welfare concerns for billions of animals kept in intensive conditions with minimal welfare standards.
Shrimp welfare represents one of the most numerically significant yet least addressed animal welfare issues globally. The sheer number of animals involved - hundreds of billions farmed annually - means that even small per-animal welfare improvements would have enormous aggregate effects. Standard practices including eyestalk ablation, extreme stocking densities, and disease-driven mass mortality cause significant suffering. The scientific evidence for shrimp sentience is growing. Yet shrimp welfare is absent from most seafood certification schemes. Consumer awareness and targeted advocacy with major aquaculture producers offer the most promising routes to improving conditions for these overlooked animals.