Mussel farming is often promoted as low-impact aquaculture, but welfare questions about bivalve sentience and farming practices deserve consideration.
Mussel welfare sits at the most uncertain end of the animal welfare spectrum. While bivalves lack centralized nervous systems and there is no strong evidence for pain experience, the scientific uncertainty combined with the enormous numbers farmed warrants precautionary consideration. The welfare of bycatch species affected by mussel dredging is clearer - dredging of the seabed to harvest settled mussels disturbs and kills a wide range of mobile and sessile seabed animals. Long-line mussel cultivation is generally more welfare-friendly than dredge harvesting of wild or semi-wild stocks.