Why we no longer sell Tiger Prawns

Posted 2 years ago

Currently Unsustainable and So We Do Not Offer for Sale

We have become increasingly conscious that, as a UK based business, we have very little
visibility or control over how Tiger Prawns are farmed and harvested.

There have been a number of recent high-profile television documentaries, which have
raised some serious doubts regarding the sustainability and the integrity of the way
these products are farmed. We have investigated, as much as we have been able, what
practices are standard throughout this industry, and the degree to which independent
regulating bodies are able to measure and enforce controls on producers.

Unable to satisfy our concerns, we have therefore taken the difficult decision to stop sourcing this
extremely popular product, until such time as we are confident in guaranteeing supply of
a genuinely sustainable Prawn.

The main reasons behind our decision to stop selling Tiger Prawns can be summarised
below:

They are imported from South East Asia and South America, with little visibility of
competent regulation and evidence showing that the farming methods used are
environmentally damaging and poorly managed. For example, large swathes of
environmentally important mangrove swamps have been destroyed due to Tiger
Prawn Farming.
The prawns are fed meal produced from ‘trash fish’ which is caught using
destructive fishing methods in poorly regulated fisheries. The suppliers of ‘trash
fish’ are intrinsically linked to slave labour, with ‘ghost ships’ crewed by unpaid
men held against their will.
During the farming process, a method called ‘eyestalk ablation’ is commonly used
on female prawns. This is a process by which one of the prawn’s eyes is either
sliced, or cut out completely, in order to encourage spawning. We have not been
able to find a source that can guarantee that this practice is not used.
I hope you understand and support our decision.