Welfare of Decapod Crustaceans with Special Emphasis on Stress Physiology

Despite the growing concern on animal welfare in crustacean farming, both from legislative bodies as well as the common public, studies on welfare are limited and transfer to routine farming is missing. While biocertification schemes such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) involve a welfare dimension, these dimensions cannot be communicated to the consumer in a scientifically sound manner. Animal welfare is recognized as integral part of sustainability due to the losses associated with bad animal welfare standards and is considered highly relevant by consumers around the world. On the other hand, increasing animal welfare is also required for the optimisation of aquaculture technology. Behaviour of the animals suggests that decapod crustaceans experience nociception and there are several indications of pain perception as well. Also, distress has rarely been evaluated under routine aquaculture conditions and markers for chronic stress detection need to be identified. Indeed, most work on welfare of crustaceans focuses on cellular, oxidative stress only. Here, a comprehensive assessment of chronic stress should be carried out to optimize rearing technology in nurseries, during ongrowing, harvesting, anesthesia, transportation, and humane slaughter in terms of a good aquaculture practise.