Tesco unveil initiative for fish welfare

Tesco has joined forces with Cumbrian Seafoods, the country’s leading independent seafood supplier, who has spent two years developing a new process to ensure that the freshwater fish pangasius is humanely stunned before processing.

“We started the process of finding a way for the Pangasius to be humanely stunned back in 2007,” said Huw Thomas, Technical Director at Cumbrian Seafoods.

“We used the experience of the salmon market, where similar guidelines were introduced some years ago."

The market for Pangasius in the UK has soared in recent years to a 1.5 mill tonne industry, mainly because it provides an affordable alternative to some of the more traditional offerings and is responsibly sourced.

Cumbrian Seafoods has worked closely with fish farms and factories in Vietnam as well as collaborating with GlobalGAP and the Global Aquaculture Alliance, to ensure that their farming standards are adhered to by the suppliers.

“As a company we have spent a great deal of time in Vietnam over the past two years to ensure every aspect of this process is right, including training the farmers and modifying the equipment,” said Thomas.