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Aquaculture Magazine reports:
English aquaculture technology specialists Ace Aquatec have partnered with Shrimp Welfare Project to expand access to humane stunning solutions amongst shrimp producers globally. The collaboration reflects a growing understanding in the industry around the need to introduce more humane slaughter methods for shrimp, one of the world’s most widely produced aquatic species for human consumption.
Immersion in ice-water slurry remains a common method of slaughter around the world, but concerns are growing that this technique may not sufficiently stun decapods during the slaughter process.
With over 400 billion shrimp farmed each year, Ace Aquatec places a strong focus on their welfare, since they, like any other conscious animal, can feel pain through the harvesting process. Ace Aquatec’s Prawn Humane Stunner Universal (A-HSU) provides effective, safe and rapid in-water stunning solutions, stunning the shrimp unconscious in less than a second and reducing handling, and therefore stress.
Providing 24 shrimp producers across the world
Shrimp Welfare Project aims to provide 24 shrimp producers across the globe with an electrical stunner, free of charge and on a limited time basis until the end of 2025, provided that they are willing and able to use the devices with some basic requirements. Producers need to be committed to a minimum stunned volume of 2,000 metric tons per year and improving welfare practices to the best of their capacity.
Shrimp Welfare Project seeks to accelerate the adoption of electrical stunning for shrimp industry-wide and has so far provided producers in Latin America and Southeast Asia with access to stunning equipment.
“We’re proud to be collaborating with Shrimp Welfare Project to further our mutual goal of making humane stunning solutions accessible to shrimp farmers everywhere. With evidence pointing to shrimps’ sentience, and their sensitivity to inadequate slaughter methods, there’s an acute need to revolutionize shrimp slaughter processes globally. This partnership is taking steps to address the issue on an industry-wide scale, and we hope to expand it further in the coming months and years,” said Tara McGregor-Woodhams, CSMO at Ace Aquatec.
Keen to actively collaborate with the shrimp farming industry
Krzysztof Wojtas, Head of Programs at Shrimp Welfare Project added: “We are excited to partner with Ace Aquatec. Humane slaughter of animals is crucial for maintaining good welfare throughout the entire process. We are keen to actively collaborate with the shrimp farming industry and support them in making the transition towards humane slaughter. This partnership is a significant step in advancing our mission, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on shrimp welfare globally.”
First venture into the Spanish
Some weeks after giving the news, the company announced that its A-HSU will be used at Piszolla’s open pond farming site in Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, marking its first venture into the Spanish market as the Dundee-based company continues to expand the presence of its innovative humane stunning products in Europe.
Piszolla, which was acquired by Aqualande in 2018, produces approximately 5,000 tons of trout per year which are supplied year-round to markets across Europe and also provides high-end smoked trout, a premium product sold to major supermarket chains.
With demand for ethically harvested fish growing in Europe, the installation reflects a growing trend towards higher standards of welfare in Spain and the Mediterranean region – a movement which Ace Aquatec’s technology is helping to facilitate. Ace Aquatec’s A-HSU device stuns fish unconscious in less than a second, minimizing handling requirements and thereby reducing stress for the fish, as well as enabling a safer and more efficient harvesting process.
Ace Aquatec and Piszolla’s relationship began at the 2022 Seafood Expo Global in Barcelona, and, with Europe likely to see the introduction of stronger welfare regulations in the coming years, the installation reinforces Piszolla’s position as trailblazers of more humane and sustainable practices in the Spanish trout farming industry.
Julio Hernandez, Regional Manager at Piszolla, said: “The installation of Ace Aquatec’s trout stunner will enable us not only to streamline our operations, but also to break new ground for animal welfare standards in Spain. We aspire to be pioneers of humane harvesting standards in this region, and this technology is set to have a huge impact for us in terms of generating high-quality, high-welfare and sustainable products for consumers globally”.
Their first installation in Spain adds to Ace Aquatec’s growing global presence, joining existing partnerships in Greece, Chile and Australia, amongst others.
