More than 70 people assembled in front of an Iceland store in Greenwich, London, on 6 June in what was labelled as the “world’s biggest protest for shrimp welfare”.
In response, Iceland pointed to an announcement it made last month about expanding its range of Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) labelled seafood. In this, the retailer said that all of its own-label whole prawn products will be ASC-certified by the end of 2026.
Organised by the International Council for Animal Welfare, the protesters called on Iceland to end the practice of cutting prawns’ eyes off and suffocating them to death. They also spoke to members of the public about prawn welfare.
“People are shocked to hear that prawns’ eyes are being cut off,” said Jonas Becker, head of invertebrate welfare policy at the International Council for Animal Welfare.
“Even meat-eaters do not want animals to be treated like this. While the majority of UK supermarkets are introducing electrical stunning for all prawns, discounters such as Iceland, Aldi, and Lidl have stayed silent. They must act now to end these horrifying practices which are in direct violation of their own animal welfare policies.”
Speaking when Iceland made its ASC announcement, executive chair Richard Walker said: “We know our customers care deeply about where their food comes from, and by expanding our ASC-certified range, we’re making it easier than ever for people to make informed, sustainable choices without compromising on quality or taste.”
According to an International Council for Animal Welfare estimate based on Seafish UK data, UK supermarkets sell more than 1.2 billion prawns per year making them the most consumed farmed animal.
The UK Government has acknowledged their sentience, while research suggests that improved protocols could spare the average animal three hours of suffering.
Earlier this year, Co-op and Waitrose committed to introducing electrical stunning for farmed prawns – a follow-up to similar commitments from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer and Ocado. In contrast, Aldi, Lidl and Asda have yet to comment on the issue.
This is just the latest protest to be staged outside an Iceland store, with activists targeting the retailer in April in response to its lack of progress on its commitment to stop selling eggs from caged hens by the end of 2025. Iceland has since removed the commitment from its website.
