Leading farmed tilapia firm Regal Springs has won Compassion in World Farming’s (CIWF) Aquaculture Innovation Award.
After three years of research and testing, the Zurich, Switzerland-headquartered company, which produces tilapia in Honduras, Mexico, and Indonesia, has implemented electrical stunning technology that has improved the welfare of 20 million tilapia to date. The stunner, which was produced in collaboration with Ace Aquatec, the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA), Nautilus Collaboration, and the Centre for Responsible Seafood (TCRS), humanely stuns fish before harvest, reducing the stress the animals experience.
"The move to electrical stunning was a great initiative," Regal Springs Head of Marketing and Media Relations Vernon Bradley told SeafoodSource. "Sustainability has been at the heart of our Regal Springs business for more than 35 years and, in the spirit of continuous improvement, we stand proud of pioneering new ways with fish welfare.”
Bradeley said that the stunning technology from Ace Aquatec is an evolution of the stunner used for the salmon farming industry – which won a Global Aquaculture Innovation Award in 2019.
"We took it onboard with grant help from the Humane Slaughter Association and we adapted it for our tilapia in warm waters," Bradley said. "After successful trials in Mexico over 3 years ago, we went on to adopt the technology in the other processing plants of Indonesia and Honduras.”
Beyond the ethical considerations, Bradley explained that the humane technology was good business, pointing out that recent studies have shown that a majority of customers care about sustainable farming and sourcing practices, and they are willing to pay more for fish that is produced through them.
"The humane stunner not only ensures better treatment of the fish but helps deliver a superior quality product through reduced stress levels in the catchment process," Bradley said. "There is no rigor mortis in the fish and no build of lactic acid associated with the rigor mortis. This initiative helps us in setting the fish apart from standard tilapia. Not only do we raise the fish in deep water lakes and feed them on a careful mainly vegetable-based diet, an important part of their well-being, but now the meat quality is enhanced through this new technology unique to Regal Springs. This helps us secure and anchor our premium positioning.”
Bradley noted that there are some small cost benefits to electrical stunning; for one thing, less labor is required on the processing line when fish stay calm during the harvesting process.
In a statement celebrating the award, Regal Springs explained that winnowing down inefficiencies in the stunning process was a significant challenge, which its team spent three years solving. One particular hurdle was fine-tuning the stunner design to match the varying power infrastructures across the different countries in which Regal Springs operates aquaculture and processing. Unexpected advantages included a longer shelf life for the company’s Naturally Better Tilapia and a reduction in the use of cleaning agents, further minimizing the company’s environmental impact.
CIWF Fish Welfare Research manager Dr. Daniel Sanchez praised the electric stunning initiative, saying that it was “a clear example to follow for the wider aquaculture industry."
“Good animal welfare is important to us,” said Bradley. “It is all part of our ‘Doing Well by Doing Good ‘ mission.”
