LONDON, Aug. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tesco, the UK’s largest grocery and general merchandise retailer, released a landmark policy outlining welfare commitments for farmed shrimp across its value chain. This policy represents a significant milestone in the fight for shrimp welfare, with the potential to benefit more than 5 billion shrimp annually.
Tesco’s welfare commitments follow a sustained campaign by Mercy for Animals and their supporters, urging the company to ban cruel shrimp farming practices, such as eyestalk ablation and ice slurry immersion. As part of this campaign, MFA organised the world’s first shrimp welfare protest in London on May 30, calling for a transition to improved shrimp farming practices, such as electric stunning.
Paul Cichy, Global Campaigns Specialist at Mercy For Animals, said, “Tesco’s policy is a crucial step in alleviating some of the worst cruelty that billions of shrimp endure annually. We hope this commitment from Tesco will spur other retailers to recognise the importance of adopting more sustainable practices for all animals. Mercy for Animals will continue its engagement efforts to bring more attention to the critical issue of shrimp welfare, which is often overlooked in animal welfare discussions.”
Tesco’s Farmed Decapod Crustacean Welfare Policy commits to integrating compassionate practices across the shrimp value chain, including capture, onboarding, landing, storage, and transport. The commitments apply to two species of shrimp, Penaeus vannamei (white-leg prawns) and Penaeus monodon (tiger prawns), which are recognised as sentient beings under the UK’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.
The policy’s salient features include implementing 100% electric stunning for Penaeus vannamei and completely phasing out cruel eyestalk ablation for both shrimp species, all by 2027. Furthermore, the policy commits to prohibiting the sale of live shrimp in stores and online.
Tesco’s commitment to shrimp welfare is further strengthened by its transparent approach to implementation and accountability. They have pledged to conduct regular audits throughout their supply chain to ensure compliance with the welfare standards outlined in the policy.
Mercy for Animals commends Tesco’s commitment to ensuring shrimp welfare across its supply chain and urges other leading retailers, including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Aldi, and Lidl, to implement similar policies. Concerted efforts across organisations can help drive meaningful change in the seafood industry, sparing billions of shrimp from cruel practices globally.
Mercy For Animals is a leading international nonprofit working to end industrial animal agriculture by constructing a just and sustainable food system. Active in Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, and the United States, the organization has conducted more than 100 investigations of factory farms and slaughterhouses, influenced more than 500 corporate policies, and helped pass historic legislation to ban cages for farmed animals. Join us at MercyForAnimals.org.
