£53k Grant for Shrimp Welfare Research

Dr Walter Veit, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Reading, has been awarded a grant of £53,256 from the Shrimp Welfare Project to research the inner lives and welfare of shrimp.

The project, which runs from February 2026 to February 2027, will draw on research in neuroscience, animal behaviour, and philosophy to build a picture of what shrimp experience and how farming practices affect their welfare. The aim is to produce a book, provisionally titled Armoured Minds: The Surprising Mental Lives of Shrimp, which will examine welfare concerns in shrimp farming, including:

• Crowding
• Slaughter methods
• Eyestalk ablation, a practice where one or both of a mother shrimp’s eyestalks are removed to increase spawning and reproduction

Around 440 billion shrimp are farmed globally each year, yet relatively little research has examined what they experience or how farming conditions affect them. The project comes after recent UK legislation recognised crabs, lobsters, and shrimp as sentient animals capable of feeling pain.

Most people have never thought about what life is like for a shrimp. This book is an attempt to take that question seriously, looking at the science of how shrimp think, feel and respond to their environment. When you start to learn about these animals, it changes how you see them. I found that out for myself, and the science backs it up. The question now is what that means for the way we farm them.

said Dr Veit.

Shrimp are among the most numerously farmed animals on the planet, and Dr Veit’s book is a rare opportunity for the broader public to consider these fascinating – yet often overlooked – creatures. At Shrimp Welfare Project, we support the shrimp farming industry’s transition to higher welfare through practical, evidence-based improvements, and we’ve seen how progress happens when researchers, NGOs, and corporates learn from each other. Understanding what these animals perceive can help inform higher-welfare standards and practices across global shrimp supply chains.

said Robin Goist, Director of Communications at Shrimp Welfare Project.

Background

The University of Reading is home to a number of academic staff who work on research with, and of, animals, including animal procedures for the treatment of various illnesses and diseases. To find out more about animal research procedures at Reading, a public lecture will be held on 4 June 2026.

Source: University of Reading