The white-clawed crayfish is Britain's only native freshwater crayfish and faces extinction pressure from invasive signal crayfish carrying crayfish plague, creating wildlife management dilemmas with welfare dimensions.
Crayfish welfare considerations have gained scientific attention as evidence for crustacean pain processing and stress responses has accumulated. Signal crayfish trapped and killed as invasive species control experience what may be welfare-relevant harm - the precautionary principle suggests minimizing suffering during control operations. At the same time, white-clawed crayfish experiencing plague mortality die rapidly from a pathogen-induced disease that may involve suffering. The welfare of both invasive and native crayfish species deserves consideration in management planning, alongside the conservation objective of white-clawed crayfish protection. Humane trapping and killing methods for signal crayfish are an achievable welfare improvement in invasive species management.