Mercy for Animals Secures Landmark Commitment for Shrimp Welfare From Tesco
17 August 2024 - 11:14AM
UK Regulatory
Mercy for Animals Secures Landmark Commitment for Shrimp Welfare
From Tesco
Tesco’s welfare commitments target alleviating cruelty
for 5 billion animals annually
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.