Shrimp are the most numerous farmed animals globally by individual count. The Shrimp Welfare Project and similar organizations are working to establish welfare standards for this overlooked group.
The welfare case for shrimp receives less attention than for other farmed species despite the extraordinary scale of their use. If shrimp have even modest capacity for suffering - which the nociceptive evidence suggests is possible - the aggregate welfare impact of current farming practices involving hundreds of billions of individuals is potentially larger than the welfare impact of all other farmed species combined. The precautionary principle strongly supports treating this uncertainty seriously. Current farming and slaughter practices were designed with no welfare consideration. The development of welfare standards for shrimp is at an extremely early stage but represents one of the highest expected value welfare interventions available given the scale. Organizations like the Shrimp Welfare Project are working to build the evidence base and corporate engagement needed to improve conditions for this neglected group.