Shrimp Welfare Index

This Index is intentionally not comprehensive of every parameter that affects farmed shrimp welfare or every species of farmed shrimp. Instead, it is an initial attempt to capture and address the most important factors to good farmed L. vannamei welfare that are based on a review of the most current peer-reviewed literature. The Index is currently specific to the grow-out phase of production.

​We hope the Index can be helpful to various stakeholders, including producers, retailers, corporates, certification bodies, policymakers, and academia.

• For farmers, the Index can be used as an assessment of current practices and protocols as well as provide a clear and actionable roadmap to improve welfare for L. vannamei producers in any country, and any type of farm system.

• For corporates and retailers, the Index can be used to benchmark their suppliers or toward the development of their own shrimp welfare sourcing policies.

• For academics, it can be used to identify the gaps in the literature for shrimp welfare and possibly inform future research directions (see especially “Excluded Measures”).

• For policymakers, it can provide guidance on creating legal or regulatory frameworks regarding crustacean, and specifically shrimp, welfare.

• For certification bodies, it can be a reference point for creating standards or fully adopted where farmed shrimp standards don’t yet exist.