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Published 28/04/2025Compassion in World Farming has today launched a Salmon Retailer Spotlight, that shines a light on the transparency and robustness of UK retailers’ animal welfare policies concerning farmed fresh, frozen and smoked salmon.
The Salmon Retailer Spotlight 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 (EU Programme) says: “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.”
ESSENTIAL WELFARE CRITERIA
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
KEY FINDINGS REVEALED
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 has 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.
INDUSTRY-WIDE IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED
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.
Louise Valducci again: “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.
“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 detail 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.
“Finally, as salmon is the largest source of farmed fish consumed in the UK, it is crucial for consumers to be aware of the welfare standards of each retailer. Consumers should be encouraged to use the Spotlight to guide their choice of salmon products and where to buy them.”
The Salmon Retailer Spotlight is the second species-specific spotlight released by Compassion, following the launch of the Broiler Retailer Spotlight in 2024.
View the Salmon Retailer Spotlight and explore our fish welfare resources to help you improve your salmon welfare policies – or contact us today!
