Prawns have their eye stalks cut off while still alive to speed up the breeding process, animal welfare groups warn, as leading retailers reevaluate common seafood industry practices
Despite around 440 billion shrimps being farmed each year, the species has typically faced little-to-no animal welfare protection.
With around 440 billion shrimps farmed each year, the species is said to be the world’s most farmed animal.
Yet the shrimp industry has historically implemented little-to-no welfare protections, which have led for cruel farming techniques and painful slaughter methods to become common practice.
But in recent years, new research and an increased understanding of animal sentience - particularly in marine species - has led to more work being done to help improve the lives of billions of shrimp.
In 2024, the Netherlands's largest supermarket chain Albert Heijn become the world’s first-ever mainstream retailer to implement a shrimp welfare policy.
The move was welcomed as a significant victory for animals, with several animal advocacy groups now actively campaigning for the food industry to do more to protect shrimp from extreme cruelty.
Albert Heijn’s policy has also since inspired a wave of subsequent announcements from other retailers around the world.
This includes this week’s news from UK supermarket chain Waitrose which has announced that it has phased out the controversial practice of eyestalk ablation in its shrimp supply chain. It also said it will introduce electric stunning for all its farmed prawns by next year.
Waitrose’s updated policy tackles what is seen as the two most pressing issues in shrimp welfare: eyestalk ablation and inhumane slaughter methods.
Eyestalk ablation is said to be a standard practice in the shrimp industry, but welfare groups including the International Council for Animal Welfare condemn the procedure as cruel, painful, and unnecessary.
The practice consists of one or more of the animal’s eyestalks being removed through crushing, cutting, burning, or tying it off. It is typically performed on reproductive female shrimp in hatcheries, as the industry believes it enhances breeding productivity and females subsequently lay more eggs.
Critics, who highlight how prawns have been recognised as sentient and therefore capable of feeling pain, say eyestalk ablation, which is performed without any pain relief, is inhumane. They also say that research indicates that alternative practices including altering shrimp feed can achieve comparable productivity levels.
Along with eyestalk ablation, the other most pressing concern for welfare groups is advocating for more humane slaughter methods. Currently, the most common practice is the use of ice slurry.
This practice is described as effectively suffocating shrimp to death.
While the industry has no standardized practice in place for slaughter, welfare experts say that electric stunning is now recognized as the most humane method for decapod crustaceans like crabs, lobsters, and crayfish.
As part of efforts to lessen the suffering of the billions of shrimp in the industry, The Humane Slaughter Initiative (recently created by nonprofit group The Shrimp Welfare Project) is now offering electrical stunners at no cost to producers who participate in the program.
The International Council for Animal Welfare is now calling on global retailers to join the likes of Albert Heijn, Waitrose, and Tesco to commit to eliminating eyestalk ablation and implement electrical stunning in their shrimp supply chains.
As scientific studies continue to show the sentience of marine life, Species Unite advocates for a vegan lifestyle that keeps marine life off of our plates and helps instead keep them in the ocean where they belong.
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