Shrimp Welfare Project was founded in 2021, through the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program, and is registered and headquartered in the UK, but the team and its work takes place all over the world. To date, they’ve deployed stunners in Vietnam, Honduras, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Thailand, and Venezuela. Additionally, they carry out farmer support work directly with farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Initially envisioned is being primarily farmer engagement, SWP soon came to realize the benefits of corporate engagement work to enable impact at scale. The company believes that asking for pre-slaughter stunning could enable the biggest shift in the industry, and the company aims to facilitate this shift by providing forward-thinking producers with free stunning equipment. They take a very collaborative approach to the industry, and view themselves as partners with the industry on this journey to higher welfare practices for a more sustainable and ethical future.
Why GDST?
We became a GDST partner in 2024. We were inspired to join as we wanted to be involved in the conversations taking place around shrimp welfare in the traceability space. We believe traceability places a significant role in the transition to higher welfare practices, and we believe in the GDST’s mission.
Why Digital Seafood Traceability Matters
Shrimp producers need a way to demonstrate their improved shrimp welfare in a transparent way. Digital seafood traceability enables producers to have a verified means of sharing this data throughout the supply chain.
How GDST helps to Address Challenges
We’re engaging with other actors in this space in their work on traceability, and providing our expertise on welfare where appropriate.
Contributing to the GDST Standard
We’re taking part in GDST’s global dialogues on animal welfare.
Impact of GDST on the Business
We’re very excited about the progress the GDST has made over the last few years. Traceability is a concern that comes up repeatedly in our conversations with stakeholders, and we’re excited to join the global dialogue on this important topic. We also appreciate that the GDST is a non-profit foundation, enabling a neutral platform for all interested parties in this conversation to take part.
Long-Term Goals
We’d love for the GDST Standard to have an animal welfare component that we believe is robust and can champion within the industry. Having companies in the seafood supply chain commit to animal welfare verified through GDST animal welfare traceability would be fantastic.
Advice for Potential GDST Partners
It would be really exciting to have more people take part in this conversation, so that the GDST standard becomes a solution that the whole industry can get behind.
You can learn more about Shrimp Welfare Project at: SWP Website
Explore the benefits of GDST partnership at: GDST Get Involved