REPORT REVEALS SOME UK SEAFOOD COMPANIES OUTPACING COMPETITORS ON DECAPOD CRUSTACEAN WELFARE

Report reveals some UK seafood companies outpacing competitors on Decapod Crustacean welfare. The Snapshot: Industry Benchmark on Decapod Crustacean Welfare shows Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Young’s Seafood are leading the field, but highlights disparities between companies taking action on decapod crustacean welfare.

• Released today, The Snapshot 2023 has published for the first-time the scores achieved by 30 UK retailers, producers, and processors on welfare standards for decapod crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, prawns and nephrops.
• Clear leaders are emerging in the retail and processing sectors – Marks & Spencer tops the table with 90%, followed by Waitrose (71%) and Young’s Seafood (64%).
• Significant improvements have been seen in some areas, yet most companies are still failing to take meaningful action on decapod welfare.
• Retailers continue to outperform producers and processors in all areas except Innovation and Leadership.
• The Snapshot 2023 report is now available on the Crustacean Industry Welfare Hub.

The Snapshot: Industry Benchmark on Decapod Crustacean Welfare is the first benchmark to objectively assess leading seafood producers, processors, retailers, and wholesalers in the UK on their management practices and reporting of welfare standards for decapod crustaceans, such as crabs, lobsters, prawns and nephrops (langoustines). The first Snapshot 2022 report, released last January, established a baseline of information from which future progress could be measured but did not publish individual company scores.

Commissioned by the UK’s leading decapod welfare organisation, Crustacean Compassion, and facilitated by Chronos Sustainability – the specialists behind the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) – The Snapshot 2023 was released earlier today (Wednesday 17 January) at a live launch event and for the first time, the report includes all 30 company scores.*

Significant progress seen with clear leaders emerging

The Snapshot 2023 report revealed that decapod welfare as a business issue has advanced significantly with the number of companies publishing polices on key welfare areas more than doubling since 2022. Previously, only 43% of companies had a decapod welfare policy but in 2023, this increased to 57%. At least twice as many companies now publish specific decapod welfare policies covering capture methods, mutilations, holding and transport conditions, and the sale of live decapods to the public. Eight companies have more than doubled their score since the first Snapshot assessment in 2022.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is the leading company with 90%, followed by Waitrose (71%). Three other companies scored more than 50% of the available total: processors Young’s Seafood (64%), Macduff Shellfish (58%) and Hilton Food Group (53%).

M&S achieved high scores due to their commitment to only source any new supply of decapod crustacean that meets M&S welfare sourcing policy; not approve/source any new species of decapod crustacean which are not electrically stunned prior to kill; find alternative solutions to crab claw nicking as an industry as well as prohibit eyestalk ablation within the supply chains, and to never sell any live decapod crustaceans.

Based on overall average scores, retailers are performing better than producers and processors. However, producers and processors scored a higher sector average in the Innovation and Leadership section, which looks at how companies are investing in research and development (R&D) and industry initiatives to improve decapod welfare.

Majority still failing to take meaningful action on decapod welfare

Despite this encouraging progress by some companies, more than half of the 30 businesses assessed scored less than 20%. These include major retailers Iceland, Lidl, Amazon, Aldi, ASDA and Ocado. Six companies scored 0%.

More action is needed on humane stunning and slaughter methods for decapods. Although it is encouraging to see more companies working on R&D projects to reduce unnecessary suffering, only five companies published a policy commitment to ensuring humane stunning and slaughter for decapods – a figure that has not changed since 2022.

Dr Ben Sturgeon, CEO of Crustacean Compassion, said:

“The results of The Snapshot 2023 benchmark assessment show that meaningful improvements to decapod welfare standards are not only possible, but also commercially desirable for leading UK food companies. It’s clear that higher welfare standards offer benefits for businesses as well as consumers, who want to be reassured that the seafood they enjoy can be ethically produced. Companies that fail to take action on this issue risk being left behind by their competitors, so we hope they will be inspired by the welfare leaders. The UK seafood industry has an opportunity to lead the world in decapod welfare standards and we look forward to seeing more widespread positive change in the near future.”

The full report, The Snapshot 2023: Industry Benchmark on Decapod Crustacean Welfare, and a recording of its live launch event is available via the Crustacean Industry Welfare Hub, a free, members-only online resource for seafood companies that want to improve decapod welfare standards in their operations. Membership is open to anyone working in the seafood industry or related fields.