In a global aquaculture marketplace where transparency and responsibility are increasingly valued, a partnership was established in 2020 between Earthworm Foundation, the sustainable seafood advocacy program Mr.Goodfish, and French shrimp traders (Eurotrade, SN Trading), cookers (Labeyrie Fine Foods, Unima) and retailers (Auchan, Casino, Coopérative U, Les Mousquetaires, Metro) united around a shared vision and initiative: to address the challenges of the shrimp supply chain, particularly focusing in Ecuador.
Ecuador is by far the leading shrimp-producing country for the French market. According to the French seafood magazine PDM (issue 219, June-July 2023), based on French customs data, between November 2021 and November 2022, France imported 98,480 tons of Penaeus shrimp. Of this total, 45,448 tons (46%) of the Penaeus vannamei species, commonly known as whiteleg shrimp originated from Ecuador, followed by Venezuela with 11,593 tons (12%). Today, Ecuador is the world's top shrimp exporter, shipping 1.21 million metric tons in 2023, according to data from the National Chamber of Aquaculture of Ecuador. China and the USA are its largest markets.
This initiative stemmed from Earthworm Foundation's extensive work with the French partners in understanding shrimp supply chains and identifying key challenges within the industry. With a proactive approach, in the spirit of the French duty of vigilance law, partners in this initiative decided to collectively focus on Latin American origins, given its importance for the French market.
The intensification of production naturally increases pressure on the environment, necessitating careful monitoring to prevent the degradation of mangroves and pollution of aquatic systems. Ensuring strong labour rights and community relations are also essential to respect the people involved in and directly influenced by the industry. Leveraging Earthworm Foundation's expertise and local presence, the initiative is engaging with Ecuador's shrimp industry to take proactive steps towards continuously improving industry practices. Key stakeholders, including the National Chamber of Aquaculture and several NGOs working locally, recognize the value of continuous improvement and collaboration throughout the supply chain.
The project has engaged Ecuadorian shrimp producers in advancing social and environmental responsibility by adhering to a code of conduct for sustainable shrimp farming developed by Earthworm Foundation, Mr.Goodfish and supported by the partners of this initiative. Companies that have adhered to this code of conduct have done so after an engagement process that entailed an evaluation of current practices, the co-development of an action plan to correct identified issues, ongoing support for implementing changes, and a follow-up evaluation after a year to assess changes.
Ecuadorian producer Langosmar was a pioneer in embracing this supply-chain initiative, having successfully completed this process. Then came Edpacif, Omarsa, and Songa. Additionally, three more companies are currently undergoing the evaluation process to meet the French market’s standards for a responsible shrimp.
Going Beyond Certification
While certifications provide a valuable foundation for responsible sourcing, this French supply-chain initiative aims to complement traditional aquaculture standards by emphasizing social impacts. Traditional aquaculture audits focus primarily on product quality, safety, and environmental impacts but often lack the depth needed to address the complex socio-economic realities of shrimp farming, such as labour and human rights issues, community relations, and relationships with third-party suppliers to processing plants.
Earthworm's on-the-ground approach therefore complements aquaculture certification standards by providing a deeper understanding of the realities of production. Extensive on-site visits to farms and processing plants, document review, interviews with workers and management, on-site observations at facilities, visits to local communities and third-party suppliers enabled the Earthworm team to establish effective relationships, provide advice and conduct performance assessments to measure success against agreed social and environmental objectives. In this way, Earthworm supports producers in meeting the environmental and social standards expected by the French market.
The field team in charge of carrying out the evaluations in both processing plants and shrimp farms have highlighted notable improvements in the quality of life of the workers following one year of intervention, as observed during follow-up visits. “Significant improvements have been implemented by the companies in terms of the infrastructure of the shrimp farm camps, providing mattresses and sanitary facilities, thus complying with national and international health and safety regulations and guaranteeing adequate living conditions”, noted Andrea Ayala, in charge of this evaluation.
The health services available to employees have also seen significant improvements, complying with legal standards and better ensuring effective prevention of occupational diseases. In cold storage at processing plants, Earthworm Foundation has promoted better welfare measures for workers such as rotation schedules, improvements in rest and acclimatization areas, hydration points and vitamin intake programs. Additionally, a strong emphasis has been placed on developing of personal skills and capacity building based on designated roles, which has strengthened the relationship between workers and the company. Transparency in procedures continues to be fundamental to ensure the well-being of all those involved in the process.
In terms of environmental practices, the companies have improved their protocols for handling chemicals such as sodium metabisulfite and sodium peroxide, and continue to implement mangrove and biodiversity conservation policies in the shrimp farms in compliance with national regulations and certification schemes.
During the implementation of the project, Earthworm Foundation has had several significant experiences, with one of the most rewarding moments being the direct interaction with the companies' personnel, at both the operational and administrative levels, creating an environment of trust and transparency. Getting to interact with all the links in the shrimp production chain has been a continuous learning process that has allowed us to obtain a broader vision and a deeper understanding of the reality of the shrimp sector in Ecuador.
A Focus on Social Responsibility
The Code of Conduct for Sustainable Shrimp Farming developed by Earthworm and Mr.Goodfish encompasses four pillars: Feed, Production Practices, Environmental Impact, and Social Impact. The Feed pillar aims to reduce dependency on wild-caught fish and promote sustainable sourcing of ingredients. The Production Practices pillar focuses on preventive measures to avoid diseases, prohibiting antibiotics and genetic modification, and addressing animal welfare. The Environmental Impact pillar emphasizes minimising harm to ecosystems and wild species through responsible chemical use, water quality control, prevention of shrimp escapes shrimp and mangrove preservation. Finally, the Social Impact pillar addresses labour rights, working conditions, and community relations. Through this work, it became evident that social responsibility is a key area needing improvement across the Ecuadorian shrimp farming industry, with many of the issues observed being common to numerous farms and processing plants visited as part of this initiative.
Engaged companies demonstrated their commitment to improving social responsibility by developing action plans following Earthworm's assessments. These plans targeted specific areas where social practices could be enhanced, with improvements validated through follow-up visits typically conducted a year after the initial evaluation. Moreover, during the evaluation and monitoring visits of the four companies that have completed the process, Earthworm Foundation was able to interact with several communities of influence: San Lorenzo del Mate and Sabana Grande, communities of Langosmar; Coaque and La Playa, of Edpacif; Cerritos de los Morreños, of Omarsa; and San Juan Bautista, La Masa and Buena Vista, of Songa.
As a result of the project, producers committed to improving workforce well-being through better living conditions at the farms and access to medical and psychological support, and upholding workers' rights to free association, collective bargaining, and non-discriminatory, inclusive workplaces. While many of these aspects are legally mandated, they are not always communicated, fully understood or respected by workers, making their explicit reinforcement crucial. Additionally, producers committed to enhancing their engagement with surrounding communities, for example through infrastructure projects, educational initiatives, and employment opportunities.
The project's impact is significant, contributing to enhancing of social practices for over 14,000 workers across the four engaged producers. Furthermore, considering the volume of shrimp sourced from these producers in 2022, around 37% of the supply chain from the retail partners in the initiative is now covered by more responsible sourcing practices aligned with the code of conduct. This percentage is increasing as we currently have an additional two Ecuadorian companies and one Venezuelan company that have already undergone a first evaluation and have action plans in place to improve their social impacts.
Future Directions
Moving forward, this partnership will continue to engage the Ecuadorian and the broader Latin American shrimp industry into being part of this supply-chain initiative, while advancing sustainability aspects on multiple fronts. A key focus will be to increase the stringency of our code of conduct requirements for feed ingredients, namely for certified soy, moving away from accepting less transparent ‘book & claim’ (or credits) chain of custody systems. In parallel, we will explore the incorporation of alternative feed ingredients, to reduce reliance on fishmeal and fish oil, by utilizing cultivated marine-based (e.g. microalgae) and land-based (e.g. insects) alternatives that are more sustainable.
Additionally, we are dedicated to improving the well-being of shrimp across all stages of production. This includes updating our code of conduct with science-based density recommendations, making sure shrimp have enough space to thrive in their ponds, and requiring shrimp hatch from mothers who haven't been subjected to stressful procedures (like eye stalk removal, which is used to increase egg production). We promote the integration of electrical stunning in the slaughtering phase to render shrimp unconscious before placing them in ice bath to end their lives.
Furthermore, the project is developing a self-assessment tool for third-party shrimp farmers that supply the processing plants involved in the initiative. This tool will enable these independent suppliers to identify and address sustainability risks within their operations and collaborate with the processing plants buying their shrimp to implement best practices. This initiative is expected to catalyse broader improvements across the industry.
