🎬 Lights, Camera, Shrimp Welfare in Action

Greetings from Shrimp Welfare Project!

I don’t know about you, but I love a good summer blockbuster. 🍿

And while this month’s newsletter may not involve sirens or superheroes, it does have a few key cinematic ingredients, including:

📽️ producers,
✨ a star-studded cast, 
🎞️ and a storyline centered on small, often-overlooked, underdogs.

Grab some popcorn and silence your cell phones, as we dim the lights for our feature presentation.

See you next month!

Robin | Communications Director

And the co-founder achievement award goes to…🎖️

It's with a mix of pride, gratitude, and bittersweetness that we share some big news: our co-founder Aaron Boddy has transitioned out of his full-time role at Shrimp Welfare Project. This isn’t a goodbye so much as a “see you in another capacity!” Like his fellow co-founder Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla before him, Aaron will be joining our Board of Directors. At the same time, Krzysztof Wojtas has stepped into the CEO role to lead the organization’s next phase of growth and impact. 

Study on ice slurry vs. electrical stunning published in Aquaculture

🔬 New peer-reviewed research supports electrical stunning protocol for humane slaughter of whiteleg shrimp

Researchers: University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture 

Practices compared: 

1. cold shock

2. electrical stunning

3. electrical stunning followed by cold shock

Note: The third group (electrical stunning + cold shock) is the procedure used in our Humane Slaughter Initiative.

What was studied: Lab tests measured behavioural activity (such as tail flips, coordinated leg movements) and neural activity (EEG recordings). Researchers also assessed the responses to variations in the electrical stunning voltage and duration, and the cold shock temperature and duration.

Key Findings:

• Neural insensibility was faster after electrical stunning than cold shock alone. 

• Shrimp who were electrically stunned had one tail flip upon first contact, followed by immobility; whereas shrimp in the cold shock group displayed a series of tail flips and muscle twitching after ice slurry immersion. 

• “Our results show that the absence of tail flipping after cold exposure is aligned with neurological insensibility in P. vannamei after in-water electrical stunning and highlights the importance of cold shock after electrical stunning,” the study says.

What this means for SWP: Alongside industry partners, we were a part of the consortium for this multi-year study, as part of our efforts to support peer-reviewed science into effective stunning and slaughter methods. 

The findings of this Stirling study mirror the behavioural activity we’ve seen in the field, and we’re enthusiastic about continuing to build knowledge and catalyse evidence-based standards through collaborative partnerships.

▶️ We don't always get to show you what our Humane Slaughter Initiative looks like on the ground… but our programme implementation team recently traveled to Sri Lanka to conduct electrical stunning training at Taprobane Seafoods' Mannar farm. The team spent four days working hands-on with farm staff on the humane electrical stunning of shrimp, a foundational step in transitioning operations toward higher-welfare aquaculture practices. 

The best part? Taprobane shared a behind-the-scenes look on their Facebook page, with photos and a thoughtful thank-you to the team.

This summer, Shrimp Welfare Project was on location at AVA Summit Canada in Toronto and EA Global in London.

Over the next month, we look forward to attending:

• VietFish Expo, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (August 19 → August 21)

• Global Shrimp Forum, Utrecht, The Netherlands (September 1 → September 3)

• Responsible Seafood Summit, Bangkok, Thailand (September 21 → September 24)

Media highlights:

• Making waves in Aquaculture Asia Pacific: The magazine’s sustainability issue spotlights our Humane Slaughter Initiative, with interviews from our own Lien-Huong Trinh, Director of Programme Implementation, alongside industry producers ➜ Check it out on page 46

• Talent spotlight: In another feature, WeAreAquaculture profiled Lien-Huong Trinh in their Women in Aquaculture series, covering her path into shrimp welfare and what the work looks like on the ground. ➜ Read the interview

• From engineering & sustainability to the shrimp industry: The School for Moral Ambition published a deep-dive profile of Jessica Gámez, our Director of Strategic Industry Partnerships. ➜ Learn more about Jessica's impactful career

• Shrimp welfare, en español: Página Internacional republished Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla's Asterisk essay in Spanish (“Sí, las gambas importan”), and Andrés joined Cadena SER’s A vivir que son dos días — Spain’s top weekend radio program — for a segment on shrimp welfare and climate impact. ➜ Read the piece and listen to the episode

• Stunning in action: Ace Aquatec published a case study on the stunner installed at Vina Cleanfood, with commentary from our CEO, Krzysztof Wojtas, on how producers are meeting emerging welfare requirements. ➜ Review the case study

• Where the AI windfall might go: In his widely read newsletter, Lewis Bollard names ending the no-stun killing of farmed fish and shrimp as one of seven big projects worth prioritizing if major new funding arrives (with a mention of our work to boot). ➜ Explore “The AI Windfall”

• Exploring AI for welfare monitoring: HÅVA, the Welfare Footprint Institute, and Shrimp Welfare Project have signed an MOU to explore how AI, computer vision, and data-driven monitoring could help assess shrimp welfare in production settings. ➜ Read the announcement

• What it's like to be a shrimp: In a joint announcement with the University of Reading, we’re thrilled to share that philosopher Walter Veit is writing a book exploring shrimp sentience and how farming practices shape welfare, which is a major moment for translating this work to a broader audience. ➜ Reading’s press release

Opportunities in aquatic animal welfare:

• Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program - Ambitious Impact

• Sales and Marketing Manager - Fish Welfare Initiative