CASE STUDY WELFARE
Setting a new benchmark for shrimp welfare
Eyestalk ablation, or removal of the eyestalk, to manipulate hormone synthesis making egg production more predictable and efficient is common practice in shrimp hatcheries worldwide. With global aquaculture under increasing pressure to improve animal welfare standards. Sourcing commercial strains of non-ablated shrimp is high on the list of priorities for producers and retailers as consumer demand for higher welfare seafood grows.
Growing consumer demand for higher welfare products The idea that the welfare of shrimp and prawns would one day receive similar recognition to other farmed species was once considered unlikely, but influential organisations like the FAIRR Foundation and the Business Benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) are leaving no stone unturned in the drive for greater transparency and action on sustainability throughout the food chain — reviewing and ranking FTSE companies right through to upstream suppliers and producers. While the power-spending customers of tomorrow (millennials and generation X & Z) are seeking out products that give solid assurances across a range of sustainability factors, including animal welfare and are quick to reject brands that fall short on their sustainability pledges.
Leading challenge for EU retailers Retailers are taking note and, when it comes to shrimp and prawn products, the quest for non-ablated shrimp is a top priority.
79%
of EU citizens want higher fish welfare 1
1
24
The practice of eyestalk ablation has been used in global shrimp production since the 1970s to offset the effects of captive conditions which can prevent females from developing mature ovaries, and cause unpredictable egg production. Removal, or the ablation of, one of a shrimps eyestalks reduces the levels of a hormone that prevents reproduction, ensuring shrimp mature on a regular basis, making egg production more predictable and efficient. It is now common practice in shrimp hatcheries worldwide to ablate one eyestalk (unilateral ablation) of the female broodstock.
omRes (2018) EU citizens and leading fish C stakeholders demand better welfare for fish.
25
