Executive summary: Farmed shrimp may face welfare threats including disease, poor water quality, aggression, predation, and stressful handling. These issues result from farm management practices and may cause suffering if shrimp are sentient. The Animal Sentience Precautionary Principle suggests taking action now despite uncertainty about shrimp consciousness.
Key points:
Shrimp aquaculture likely constitutes the greatest suffering of any individual farmed animal group, so improving conditions could help many individuals.
Extensive evidence on other crustaceans suggests shrimp may be sentient but their capacity for suffering specifically is uncertain and requires more study.
Most threats arise from the mismatch between natural shrimp environments and intensive farming systems optimized for productivity not welfare.
Disease causes the greatest mortality but may result indirectly from other issues like poor water quality, aggression, and environmental stress.
All life stages face welfare threats but late juveniles endure the most intensive rearing, and slaughter causes acute distress.
Reducing stocking densities could alleviate several issues but risks decreasing efficiency, and many solutions have trade-offs requiring careful evaluation.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: Farmed shrimp may face welfare threats including disease, poor water quality, aggression, predation, and stressful handling. These issues result from farm management practices and may cause suffering if shrimp are sentient. The Animal Sentience Precautionary Principle suggests taking action now despite uncertainty about shrimp consciousness.
Key points:
Shrimp aquaculture likely constitutes the greatest suffering of any individual farmed animal group, so improving conditions could help many individuals.
Extensive evidence on other crustaceans suggests shrimp may be sentient but their capacity for suffering specifically is uncertain and requires more study.
Most threats arise from the mismatch between natural shrimp environments and intensive farming systems optimized for productivity not welfare.
Disease causes the greatest mortality but may result indirectly from other issues like poor water quality, aggression, and environmental stress.
All life stages face welfare threats but late juveniles endure the most intensive rearing, and slaughter causes acute distress.
Reducing stocking densities could alleviate several issues but risks decreasing efficiency, and many solutions have trade-offs requiring careful evaluation.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.