Closed call for evidence

Call for evidence: background

Updated 5 October 2023

Call for evidence on the use of decapods (including crabs, crayfish, lobsters, prawns, shrimps) for scientific, experimental or educational purposes

Following the recognition of decapod crustaceans (including crabs, crayfish, lobsters, prawns, shrimps, etc) as sentient animals in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, the Home Office, in conjunction with the Department of Health Northern Ireland (DoHNI), are exploring the implications of this for the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA).

The evidence will be used to inform future policy development on whether and how the use of decapods in science should be regulated. At this stage the Home Office and DoHNI are seeking evidence from individuals and organisations that use (or intend to use) decapods for scientific purposes and/or educational purposes. The Home Office and DoHNI will be guided by the evidence but intend to also commission the independent advisory body, the Animals in Science Committee (ASC), for advice on this issue later this year. There is likely to be opportunity for wider stakeholder input through any further evidence-gathering by the ASC which will be carried out at the appropriate time.

ASPA applies across the UK, but policy related to ASPA in Northern Ireland is devolved. This call for evidence is UK-wide and is carried out by the Home Office in conjunction with DoHNI.

If you use decapods for scientific, experimental or educational purposes, at any life stage, please complete the call for evidence.

If you know someone who uses decapods for scientific, experimental or educational purposes, please make them aware of this call for evidence.

Background

The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 provides legal recognition that vertebrate animals, decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs are sentient beings, with the capacity to experience pain, distress and/or harm.

ASPA regulates the use of ‘protected animals’ for scientific or educational purposes that may cause harm. A ‘regulated procedure’ for the purposes of this Act means any ‘procedure applied to a protected animal for a qualifying purpose which may have the effect of causing the animal a level of pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm equivalent to, or higher than, that caused by the introduction of a needle in accordance with good veterinary practice’^{[footnote 1]}. ASPA regulates the use, breeding and supply of protected animals for use in regulated procedures or for the scientific use of their organs or tissues. ‘Protected animals’ in ASPA are, ‘any living vertebrate, other than man, and any living cephalopod’.^{[footnote 2]} Decapods are not currently protected animals under ASPA.

The keeping and use of protected animals under ASPA is subject to rigorous regulatory requirements. ASPA requires a three-tier licensing system: for every establishment, project and person using animals in science. Application of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) of animal use is required at all stages. Individuals involved with the use of protected animals must have received appropriate accredited (or equivalent) training. Guidance and a code of practice explain how ASPA is implemented, for example they set out requirements for the appropriate care and accommodation, re-homing if appropriate, and killing of protected animals. Inspections, announced and unannounced, are carried out to monitor compliance with ASPA and enforcement action is taken where necessary. Statistics of the use of animals in science are collected annually and published. Guidance on the application of ASPA can be found here.

The regulated use of protected animals under ASPA begins at different life stages depending on the animal. For example, with fish it is when they can feed independently and for cephalopods, it is from the point of hatching. If decapods were to be defined as protected animals under ASPA, the appropriate stage of life when the protection should start would need to be defined.

For the purpose of this call for evidence, we are seeking responses on the use of decapods at all life stages.

1. S.2 (1) ASPA, Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (legislation.gov.uk) ↩

2. S.1 (1) ASPA, Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (legislation.gov.uk) ↩