Annual Benchmark Shows Companies are Taking Action on Crustacean Welfare

Latest benchmark shows seafood companies are starting to address welfare standards for crustaceans, including lobsters, crabs and shrimps

 Basia Romanowicz

Today marks the release of the third annual results of The Snapshot, the leading benchmark on decapod crustacean welfare standards in the UK food industry. The Snapshot, now in its third year, is published by animal welfare organisation Crustacean Compassion, supported by Chronos Sustainability.

Decapods - i.e. ten limbed crustaceans such as lobsters, prawns and crabs – are incredibly diverse, representing some 15,000 species and they inhabit nearly every corner of the planet. In 2022, they were recognised as being sentient in UK law following an extensive review of the scientific evidence, which found that decapods feel pain, fear and pleasure and have been shown to learn and form memories.

Decapods are also big business. They sit at the heart of a growing global market worth over $19bn.  There are many welfare issues experienced by these animals when they are farmed or captured for food. These include poor welfare during capture, inhumane storage and transport conditions, mutilations such as eyestalk ablation (the removal of eyestalks to increase productivity) in farmed prawns, and inhumane slaughter, including boiling alive or chilling on ice. With growing consumer awareness and the possibility of legislation being extended to include decapod welfare, many companies are looking to keep ahead of the curve by actively addressing decapod welfare in their supply chains.

The Snapshot benchmark highlights how 30 of the biggest retailers and producers in the UK crustacean market are managing these welfare issues by assessing their policies, from capture to slaughter, as well as their management and reporting of decapod welfare. The benchmark is designed to demonstrate how companies are managing the issue, and provides guidance to companies looking to address decapod welfare.

Decapod welfare is advancing as a business issue

The overall results of The Snapshot this year are encouraging, with 21 companies improving their overall score from 2023 and 13 companies moving up one or more tiers in the benchmark. Two companies (Young’s Seafood and Marks & Spencer) achieved the highest Tier 1 ranking for the first time, scoring more than 80% overall, which means they have strong commitments to decapod welfare and the required processes for management and reporting in place. 

The majority of companies now publish an overarching policy on decapod welfare (70%, compared to 50% in 2023) and companies’ policies are increasingly addressing wild-caught species (crabs, lobsters, prawns and langoustines) in addition to farmed prawns.

We saw particularly encouraging movement in 2024 on commitments to adopt or expand electrical stunning prior to slaughter, to end mutilations such as eyestalk ablation and not to sell live decapods to the public.

Despite this progress there is still much room for improvement. Over a third of benchmark companies (11 companies) are still in the bottom tier (Tier 5) of the benchmark meaning they appear to have taken few or no steps towards addressing decapod crustacean welfare in their supply chains.

Notable findings this year include:

·      Mutilations: The number of companies publishing commitments to avoid non-therapeutic mutilations has doubled, from 7 companies in 2023 to 14 companies in 2024. It is encouraging to see that six companies have already barred the practice of eyestalk ablation for prawns from their supply chain and five (17%) now having targets to eliminate it no later than 2026 – including Tesco UK, the Co-op and Hilton Food Group. 

·       Slaughter methods: Electrical stunning is considered the most humane slaughter method (compared to methods like boiling alive and ‘chilling on ice’), and the number of companies committing to use electrical stunning has increased from five in 2023 to 12 this year. More attention is being given to introducing electrical stunning of wild caught species, including lobster, crab, nephrops (langoustine) and crayfish, which is being driven by the development of new electrical stunning equipment that can be used on board fishing vessels. It is clear however, that providing humane stunning and slaughter for all decapods in the UK food supply chain will require more investment and commitment from the seafood industry.

·      Limited disclosure: While the proportion of companies reporting their performance on the welfare of decapods has increased from 2023, it is still at a low level. Only 9 companies (33%) are reporting on the proportion of decapods in their supply chains which have been humanely stunned and 10 companies (33%) are reporting on the proportion of decapods free from routine mutilations.

Chronos view: Benchmark is driving progress in welfare commitments and highlighting innovation

We are delighted to work with Crustacean Compassion on The Snapshot. The benchmark is still in early days, with companies needing time to adapt to new expectations on welfare issues, but nevertheless the progress is encouraging.

The rise in overall scores among companies in the three years it has operated has been notable, from an average score of 14% in 2022 to 40% in 2024. Since inception we have seen a significant rise in the number of companies addressing decapod welfare, setting clear targets for welfare improvements and reporting on their performance.

We are also seeing companies becoming more engaged, with over half of benchmark companies now responding with updated policies and feedback on their assessments – underlining the impact the benchmark is having.

Underneath the headline findings we are also seeing the industry invest in the research and innovation required to move the needle on some welfare issues.

For example, scientific evidence shows that electrical stunning is the most humane method of slaughter, however there is currently no commercial method of humane stunning of nephrops (langoustines) caught at sea.  This year we saw companies including Marks & Spencer, Young’s Seafood, Associated Seafoods, Whitby Seafoods and Macduff Shellfish supporting an industry project to develop humane stunning for nephrops, which could be a gamechanger if the pilots succeed.  

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At Chronos, our specialist animal welfare team has in-depth understanding of welfare practices and reporting across many species. Read more about our animal welfare consultancy services here.