Eyestalk Ablation-Free Recognition Project

Greetings from Shrimp Welfare Project!

We are excited to announce the launch of our new webpage for the Eyestalk Ablation-Free Recognition Project (ESA-free), which recognises companies that have committed to eliminating eyestalk ablation from their supply chain, promoting better welfare for shrimps. Major retailers have already made this commitment, and we're inviting more companies to join us. Check out our webpage to learn more and get involved!

Stay-tuned in the coming weeks as we finalise the Welfare Index, a groundbreaking tool designed to assess and enhance the welfare of farmed shrimps with key parameters based on peer-reviewed literature! The Welfare Index is specifically focusing on the critical grow-out phase of production, and offers a clear roadmap for improvement in shrimp welfare practices that is tailored for stakeholders across the industry — from producers to policymakers.

Have a great week!

Léa | Communications Lead

What is Eyestalk Ablation (ESA) and its implications? ESA involves removing all or part of a shrimp's eyestalks through crushing, cutting, or burning to artificially induce spawning. Not only does ESA negatively impact shrimp health and welfare, offspring quality, and survival rates, but it also consequently affects both production and profitability for shrimp farmers.

What does the webpage aim to do? The ESA-free webpage aims to highlight companies across the industry who have made firm commitments to phase out ESA. The webpage showcases the importance of corporate alignment with growing consumer demand for ethically-sourced seafood. 

Would your company like to be featured? If your company has either phased out ESA, or is in the process of phasing out ESA, get recognised on the ESA-free webpage by completing this simple form!

In the past month, we attended: 

• Vegan Animal Rights Conference in Manchester, UK (13-14 April, 2024)

• Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, Spain (23-25 April, 2024)

Additionally, we look forward to attending the upcoming events: 

• Animal Advocacy Strategy Forum 2024

• Animal & Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit in Washington, DC, USA (16-19 May, 2024)

• EA Global in London, UK (31 May-2 June, 2024)

If you want to learn more about shrimp welfare and the shrimp farming industry:

• Léa Guttmann, our Impact Officer & Communications Lead, and Elisa Autric, Research Assistant at Rethink Priorities, discussed farmed shrimps on the podcast, “Comme un poisson dans l'eau” (in French).

• Marks and Spencer was recently recognised as the leading UK company on decapod crustacean welfare, according to the latest edition of Crustacean Compassion’s benchmarking report. The report evaluates the performance of 30 seafood companies regarding the welfare of crabs, lobsters, and shrimps within their supply chains.

• Bob Fischer, Senior Research Manager at Rethink Priorities, was interviewed for the Moral Mayhem podcast about animal welfare and moral weights. We were honoured to be mentioned as one of the best donation opportunities to help animals.

• Lewis Bollard, Director of the Farm Animal Welfare program at Open Philanthropy, discusses the pressing issue of ending factory farming and highlights our innovative work (listen starting at 01:14:27) in the latest 80,000 Hours podcast episode.

• An interesting, informational video where lead industry scientists explain how and why fish feel pain.

• Explore the latest insights into farmed invertebrate welfare at the upcoming workshop on May 16, 2024.

• The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness was recently announced at The Emerging Science of Animal Consciousness Conference, and includes a point about the realistic possibility of conscious experiences in many invertebrates.

Job opportunities in aquatic animals:

• M&E Consultant - Fish Welfare Initiative

• Campaign Coordinator - Crustacean Compassion