New international campaign exposes the hidden costs of the global shrimp industry

We are delighted to share that Animal Welfare Observatory (recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators) has just launched our first international shrimp welfare campaign.

After months of research and international collaboration, the campaign exposes the hidden environmental, social, and animal welfare costs behind Spain's shrimp supply chain through investigations in Ecuador, the EU's main supplier, and Indonesia. The campaign includes an environmental and social report on Ecuador, prepared by Foodrise with support from Eurogroup for Animals and Protección Animal Ecuador, as well as undercover investigations carried out with We Animals, with visual documentation by photographers Marcos Zegers and Ulet Ifansasti.

Spain is the largest shrimp consumer in Europe and the fourth largest consumer globally, making it a strategically important market for advancing shrimp welfare.

At a time when climate and sustainability dominate public debate, we deliberately designed this campaign to reach audiences beyond the animal protection movement by connecting animal welfare with environmental destruction and social impacts.

We are very encouraged by the initial response. In its first days, the campaign has already been covered by National Geographic Spain, Infobae, El Independiente, El Salto, and other national media outlets. National Geographic Spain also featured the investigation on its social media channels, helping the campaign reach audiences well beyond our usual circles.

Key findings

• Shrimp are the most farmed and slaughtered animals in the world, surpassing chickens and pigs combined by billions every year, yet their welfare remains almost entirely absent from public debate.
• In Ecuador, where shrimp has become the country's largest export sector, surpassing even crude oil, the industry's rapid expansion has destroyed 57% of the country's mangrove forests, rising to as much as 90% in some regions.
• The investigation also documents land rights violations affecting coastal communities, the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few large producers while 63% of aquaculture workers remain informally employed, and a global trade model described by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food as "food colonialism."
• From an animal welfare perspective, undercover investigations documented the slaughter of shrimp without effective stunning in Ecuador and the routine eyestalk ablation of female shrimp without anaesthesia in Indonesia, despite growing scientific evidence that crustaceans are sentient and the availability of more humane alternatives.

Report

Cheap Shrimp, Hidden Costs: The Environmental and Social Impacts of Shrimp Farming in Ecuador

Additional campaign resources

• Campaign page
• Investigation into mangrove destruction and shrimp slaughter in Ecuador
• Investigation into eyestalk ablation in Indonesia
• We Animals footage gallery

This campaign marks the beginning of a broader international strategy to improve shrimp welfare. We will build on these findings to secure corporate commitments from key seafood importers and other companies across the European supply chain, with the goal of advancing effective stunning and ending eyestalk ablation.

We hope these resources are useful to others working on shrimp welfare, food systems, environmental issues, corporate campaigns, and other effective altruism cause areas, and we welcome any feedback or questions.