‘More humane’ prawn stunning and tailing machine secures funding

A project to accelerate the development of a “more humane” prawn stunning and tailing machine has been awarded a £171,850 grant by Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. 

Led by Fisheries Innovation & Sustainability and a coalition of seafood supply chain businesses, the scheme will use the funding to build on the next phase of the Nephrops Prototype Machine. 

The investment will introduce a full-capacity system that automatically stuns and tails nephrops, which are typically live-tailed at sea by crews.

The equipment is said to offer a more humane and efficient alternative to live tailing, with the potential to improve not only animal welfare and product handling but also reduce crew workloads.

Agriculture, environment and rural affairs minister Andrew Muir described nephrops as the cornerstone of Northern Ireland’s fishing industry, “supporting jobs, sustaining coastal communities and contributing significantly to the Northern Ireland economy”.

“The machine will not only deliver more humane tailing of nephrops at sea but will enhance crew welfare through a significant reduction in the very long hours spent on deck manually sorting and tailing nephrops in often very challenging weather and working conditions,” he said. “I applaud industry in coming together to resolve such matters through the introduction of new technology to address the process of nephrops handling onboard, which has not changed for decades.”

Collaborating with the industry

Skippered by third-generation Portavogie-based fisherman Darren McClements, the current prototype machine was successfully trialled aboard the commercial prawn trawler the Golden Ray in May 2025, with funding from the UK Seafood Fund’s Fisheries and Seafood Scheme matched by FIS and its industry partners.

“We are proud to be involved in this project and to support sea trials of this machine,” McClements said. “This is about fishing better and working together to find solutions that mean we can address sustainability and welfare challenges, provide the highest quality product for market, and also make life easier onboard for our crew, improving our business model.

“At sea testing is a crucial part of this – to work, solutions have to be practically designed to conditions at sea and working onboard a fishing vessel. We are very grateful to owners Whitby Seafoods for supplying the Golden Ray for trials. Their support here has been instrumental.”

The project involved supply-chain wide collaboration with partners including Anglo Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Organisation, the Northern Ireland Fish Producers’ Organisation, Scottish White Fish Producers’ Association, Associated Seafoods, Shrimp Welfare Project, Kilkeel Seafoods, Whitby Seafoods, Young’s Seafood, Macduff Shellfish, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Seafish, University of Stirling, and The Fishmongers’ Company.

“This project demonstrates how precompetitive collaboration with industry can drive forward sustainable innovation in UK fishing,” said Kara Brydson, executive director at Fisheries Innovation & Sustainability. “This vital grant will bring us another step closer to creating a unique piece of kit that is truly fit-for-purpose for UK vessels and help seafood businesses meet future requirements and sustainability goals.”

This comes as  Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Co-op, Waitrose and M&S and Iceland have have made commitments on prawn welfare and have called for a raising of standards.