'Animal welfare' leverages shrimp export industry from 2026

As the entire sector is concentrating resources to realize the export target of USD 10.7 billion in 2025, Vietnamese fisheries continue to face profound shifts from international markets. Alongside efforts to remove the IUU "yellow card" and fulfill commitments to Net Zero, a new technical barrier known as "animal welfare" is gradually being codified into law in key markets such as the United Kingdom and the EU.

A new barrier for Vietnamese shrimp

The year 2025 marks a turning point, as Europe's most powerful retailers have officially put animal welfare requirements into writing, with strict compliance roadmaps. In its "Farmed Crustacean Animal Welfare Policy," Tesco, the UK's largest retailer, also made a firm commitment that 100% of whiteleg shrimp in its supply chain must be electrically stunned prior to pre-processing by 2026.

Ice-water immersion is a traditional and widely used practice in Viet Nam. Live shrimp, after being harvested, are poured directly into ice-cold water boxes to induce clinical death and preserve quality. However, from the animal welfare perspective, this method is considered to cause prolonged suffering to the animals.

As a result, the message from the UK and EU markets today is highly consistent and uncompromising: after 2026, this process will no longer be accepted. Instead, shrimp must be fully stunned, typically using electrical pulses, before entering the ice-immersion stage.

Quiet transitions in Viet Nam's large shrimp areas

In practice, international partners have already been taking strategic steps directly in Viet Nam’s raw material areas to demonstrate the feasibility of the new technology. A vivid example is the cooperation between Nha Trang Seafoods (F17) and the Shrimp Welfare Project organization. In late 2024, this enterprise pioneered in joining the "Humane Slaughter Initiative," piloting electrical stunning equipment supplied by Optimar (Norway). This action not only reflects the company's vision but also shows a clear signal that the technology can be fully integrated into Viet Nam’s existing production processes.

Addressing the financial problem for technological innovation

While the industry supports the humane approach to production processes, from an economic perspective, this shift poses a difficult cost problem for the business community.

To meet the new standard, companies face financial pressure from three directions. First is fixed capital expenditure. An automated stunning line imported from Europe can cost from USD 50,000 to several hundred thousand USD.

Second is operating costs. The new process requires highly skilled technical staff, consumes more electricity, and most notably, reduces harvesting speed compared to manual methods, directly affecting line productivity.

In addition, animal welfare standards impose stringent requirements on live shrimp densities during transportation to reduce stress, increasing logistics costs per unit of product.

To ensure that businesses are not left to face this standards-raising challenge alone, support from management agencies and the financial system is essential. Specifically, regarding standards, ministries and sectors need to study and soon issue Vietnamese standards or official technical guidelines on animal welfare to help businesses make well-directed investment decisions.

In parallel, regarding technologies, mechanisms are needed to encourage domestic research institutes, universities, and mechanical enterprises to intensify R&D of cost-effective, “Made in Vietnam” stunning equipment, thereby reducing dependence on imported machinery. Most importantly, in terms of finance, green credit packages should be designed with greater flexibility, treating investments in animal welfare technology as a priority criterion and accepting the technology lines themselves as collateral in order to unlock capital flows for SMEs.