News from around the world
‘Fishless fish’ could be the next big thing in seafood production. While plant-based seafood products in the US account for only 0.1% of seafood sales – less than the 1.4% of the US meat market is occupied by plant-based meat alternatives – venture capitalists are reportedly showing an interest in cell-based seafood.
Germany will end exports of live animals for breeding to countries outside the EU in what campaigners say is a pioneering move for EU animal welfare. In a statement, the government said it could “no longer stand by and watch as animals on long transports suffer or die in agony”.
Hundreds of farmers protested across New Zealand over the government’s plans to tax greenhouse gas emissions from farm animals. Farm lobby group Groundswell New Zealand helped organise more than 50 protests, including large convoys of tractors and 4x4s sent to Wellington and Auckland.
The US grocery store chains Walmart and Kroger have announced they will not be able to supply 100% cage-free eggs by 2025, a commitment made by the companies six years ago. The grocers blamed supply issues and the cost of production.
Dozens of advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), claiming the federal department has failed to come up with a plan to regulate water pollution from factory farms.
A highly lethal form of bird flu infected a commercial flock of breeding chickens in Arkansas, the US Department of Agriculture said, widening an outbreak of the disease in the key southern producing region. Across the US, more than 49 million birds have been killed by avian flu or culled.
The latest global climate meeting is taking place in Egypt, with emissions from livestock in the spotlight. To avoid more dangerous global temperature rises, countries must reduce emissions from the farming sector, including methane from livestock, almost completely by mid-century.
A legal attempt to close a Senegalese producer of fishmeal, a nutritious powder fed to intensively farmed livestock, ended in defeat this month. Fishers had accused it of contaminating water and air polluting air. Earlier this year the UN had said fishmeal production in the country risked creating food insecurity by increasing competition and prices for edible fish.
UK news
The government’s pledge to raise the cap on the amount of money the Environment Agency can fine water companies for sewage pollution to £250m has been described as “hot air”, as the Guardian revealed the regulator failed to levy any such penalties since it was given powers to do so 12 years ago.
The Scottish farmed salmon industry is reportedly using loopholes to cover up environmental harm and high levels of disease, according to a report by charity WildFish. The true picture of infestation levels and potential risk of spread to wild salmon and trout is being obscured, says the report.
Illegal meat discovered in lorries at the port of Dover has raised concerns about the threat of an outbreak of deadly African swine fever in the UK. Officials from Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) found illegal meat imports in 21 of 22 lorries originating from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Poland over 24 hours last month.
Activist groups Extinction Rebellion and Plastic Rebellion were among those at a seven-day protest outside McDonald’s European headquarters in north London, last week. Reports alleged the fast food chain’s supply line includes cattle originating from illegally cleared ranches in the Amazon.
From the Animals Farmed series
Scientists in Japan say they have developed a groundbreaking method of farming squid that could solve shortages of the seafood staple. However, environmental groups say aquaculture is incompatible with the animal’s welfare.
Efforts by the government to protect UK rivers have been labelled an “abject failure” after two-thirds of farms in Devon were found to be causing pollution when inspected by the Environment Agency. Nearly nine in 10 farms inspected were not compliant and two-thirds were causing pollution, according to the report.
The UK’s free-range chicken sector has gone into lockdown this week after hundreds of new bird flu outbreaks. Any farms that had been giving their egg-laying hens or chickens access to the outdoors are now required to keep them locked indoors. The RSPCA said it was important that free-range birds were given additional environmental enrichment items while indoors.
Scientists are rushing to create a vaccine for world’s biggest animal disease outbreak, African swine fever. The deadly disease has led to the death of more than 100 million pigs since 2018 and has proved a tougher challenge than scientists first thought. Reports of the virus have rolled in from 45 countries across five continents, forcing the culling of pigs.
Thank you to everyone who continues to get in touch to share their thoughts on the series.
Rosie got in touch to say:
I was very disturbed on reading your article on African swine flu. Not because of the disease itself but because of the lack of mention of the horrific treatment and appalling conditions the pigs are kept in, which is also likely to be the reason the disease is so prevalent in the first place!
One image showed pigs about to be buried alive and the other, hundreds of pigs covered in muck, some appearing injured, crammed into a tiny, filthy space at a sausage factory. Is this really how we want to treat other creatures on this Earth?
Steve Handley said:
Outdoor bred is very misguiding for the consumer as they think it has lived free range all of its life. With respect to pork and bacon, it simply means until they are weaned, and then they are finished indoors on straw or concrete slats. Pigs are intelligent and deserve more kindness in rearing – like all animals.
Please do send us your stories and thoughts to us at: animalsfarmed@theguardian.com
