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Eyemouth night fish

Capture, Transport & Storage

Every year billions of animals like crabs, lobsters, prawns and crayfish (decapod crustaceans) are caught from the seas and transported around the world by sea, air and land for commercial purposes. Throughout the journey from sea to plate they go through three key stages, capture, transport and storage, each of which have their own set of stressors, but all that cause stress, injury and even death.

capture

Capture

Decapod crustaceans are caught from the wild, using baited pots or trap, trawling, gill or drag nets, through draining nets or in small numbers the animals may be speared or caught by hand. These capture methods vary greatly depending on species, but all have the potential to compromise welfare, including shifts in barometric pressure, physical trauma, injury and crushing, exhaustion and death. 

Despite their hard shells, these fragile animals can be injured by rough capture methods and handling. Their limbs can be injured or torn off when ripped from the nets or removed from pots. Even the speed at which they are hauled up from the sea to fishing boat can cause a rapid change in pressure and temperature for them, causing them distress.

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Coming out of the sea they are now exposed to air, and as aquatic animals that breathe underwater using gills, this makes it harder for them to take in oxygen. Air exposure can cause stress, vulnerability to disease and often can be fatal due to suffocation.

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Once on deck, they are then exposed to many more stressors, including changes in light, temperature and noise – nothing like the natural environment they have just been plucked from.

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Onboard storage may mean that they are kept out of water for long periods of time and packed closely confined with many others without the opportunity to hide – all which can result in suffocation, fighting and injuries. To reduce injuries from fighting and for handler safety, the claws of crabs and lobsters are often ‘nicked’ (where their claw tendon is cut with a knife) or temporarily banded.  Claw nicking is painful and increases risk of disease too. Both claw banding and nicking reduce the animal’s ability to perform natural behaviour, such as being able to feed, groom, move or defend themselves.

crustacean compassion uk animal welfare

Transport

More than 420 million decapod crustaceans are landed by UK vessels into UK ports every year with a further 5 billion imported from overseas, requiring an enormous amount of transport as animals progress through the food supply chain. Transport varies by sea, air and land, and can last for several days, subjecting these animals to stressful and inappropriate conditions. Sadly, many animals don’t make it to the destination and die in transit.

How the animals are packed, for example at the top or bottom of the transport tank, has a significant impact on their journey. Those at the bottom are more likely to lose limbs or die due to being crushed by the weight of those above. As well as this, they will be exposed to disturbances, such as road vibrations and noise.

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There may also be issues with how they are transported, whether they are kept in water or out. It is difficult to keep the water quality in good condition for long journeys, or at the right temperature. But being transported out of water and exposed to air, light and other conditions also cause problems for these aquatic animals.

 

Crustaceans are often starved before travel, as no food intake will reduce the amount of waste products building up during the journey. They are also transported and stored alongside many other animals, sometimes of different species, with very little room. The hunger and dehydration combined with high stocking densities has been found to lead to aggressive behaviour and cannibalism. In the wild, crustaceans tend to be solitary and territorial, so this proximity to other animals is extremely stressful for them. 

storage

Storage

Decapod crustaceans destined for food production are either wild-caught or ‘harvested’ on farms. At some stage of their life, they will be stored in some way for some period of time. It may be short-term onboard a fishing vessel or for transport or can be for much longer when they are kept for months at farms or processing factories, or even on display in retail stores, restaurants or markets. Regardless of the duration - which can be as long as several months – storage has many negative impacts on the health and behaviour of crustaceans.

Depending on the species and duration of storage, crustaceans are held in water tanks with or without water recirculation, in air and sometimes directly on ice which is very harmful. The water quality (if there) may be poor, the tanks may be overcrowded, the environmental conditions just not suitable for these aquatic animals.

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