Decapod crustaceans including prawns and shrimps are consumed in vast quantities globally. The growing evidence for their sentience creates significant ethical responsibilities.
Shrimp welfare is at the frontier of animal ethics. The evidence base for decapod sentience is growing rapidly but welfare practice has not kept pace. Billions of shrimp are processed under conditions that would be considered unacceptable for vertebrates. The scale of consumption makes this potentially the largest animal welfare problem by individual numbers. Precautionary humane slaughter standards should be developed urgently for shrimp processing.