The publication complements Compassion’s 2024 Salmon Welfare Scorecard which evaluates salmon producers’ public welfare policies on salmon. The Retailer Spotlight uses a smaller subset of the same criteria, focusing on information that most producers already report against. It challenges retailers to demonstrate their commitment to welfare standards through their own policies, rather than relying on assurance schemes.
Louise Valducci, head of food business at Compassion’s EU Programme, said in a press release: “Certainty and transparency are key to any corporate buying practice - while assurance schemes have their place, there is an overreliance on using them instead of retailers developing their own robust welfare policies. I’m pleased to see that retailers are starting to positively respond to the need for fish in aquaculture systems to have their own species-specific welfare criteria disclosed, but as an industry sector this is still considerably behind policies that we see for the animals in land systems.”
“Certification can be very confusing for the consumer, and often critical welfare issues are not easily visible and possibly aren’t addressed or considered within the schemes. This spotlight is a great aid in making consumer welfare considerations a lot simpler and easier to navigate.”
The Retailer Spotlight evaluates six key welfare criteria essential for the welfare of farmed salmon:
- Humane slaughter practices
- Stocking density limits
- Fasting times
- Use of key welfare indicators
- Cleaner fish welfare
- Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) policy
By examining the public corporate policies of major UK retailers including Aldi, Lidl, Amazon Fresh, ASDA, Iceland, M&S, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Co-op and Waitrose, the Spotlight reveals key findings on their salmon welfare policies:
- Over half of UK retailers’ policies (7 out of 12) state that they adopt humane methods of slaughter.
- Only Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Co-op have policies in place, or adhere to a certification scheme, that limits stocking density to 17kg/m3 or less.
- M&S, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Waitrose are the only retailers that limit fasting practices to less than 72 hours for all types of procedures, while Tesco’s fasting policy is limited to only certain procedures.
- Over half (7 out of 12) of UK retailers acknowledge the importance of using key welfare indicators. However, only Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Co-op publicly report on these measures.
- Six UK retailers ensure welfare standards for cleaner fish in their supply chains, although most rely on a farm assurance schemes, rather than integrating these standards into their own corporate policies. M&S and Waitrose are the only two retailers that have made a public statement to adopt more humane alternatives for sea lice treatment when available.
- M&S is the only retailer that publicly discloses that they do not currently use high stocking density grow-out recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and have no plans to source from these systems in the near future. Co-op and Aldi acknowledge there are no RAS used for grow-out phase at present.
The Food Business team at Compassion engages with all UK retailers to develop their salmon welfare policies and improve their public reporting. However, significant industry-wide improvements are still needed to advance the welfare of salmon.
“Retailers must develop and uphold their own dedicated salmon welfare policies, providing consumers with clear information about the welfare standards of the salmon they buy,” notes Valducci.
“Through their policies, retailers can work with their suppliers to ensure the most impactful welfare criteria are captured, implemented and adhered to. Retailers should not simply accept any assurance scheme, as often the details in welfare standards are not transparent and not easily understood. Best practice would be to take ownership and, vitally, state their standards for their salmon as part of their purchasing process. The Salmon Retailer Spotlight is there as guidance to ensure critical welfare considerations are factored into this process,” she added.
