Amputating the eyestalks of female shrimp is a cruel practice known as “eyestalk ablation.” This practice is incredibly common at shrimp and prawn farms that produce shrimp for human consumption. If you have ever eaten shrimp, there is a decent chance that you’ve eaten shrimp from a farm that practices eyestalk ablation.

You can play a part in ending eyestalk ablation! Sign and share this petition today to demand the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ban this practice immediately. The European Union already bans eyestalk ablation in shrimp that are labeled as organic. As a bare minimum, we ask that the USDA adopt the same rule, prohibiting eyestalk ablation in organic shrimp. Ideally, we would love to see this act of animal cruelty banned completely.

Wondering why farms practice eyestalk ablation?

The theory is that cutting off one or both of a female shrimp’s eyestalks will stimulate ovary growth. This is because eyestalks are associated with the production of certain hormones, the removal of which can speed up the shrimp’s reproductive cycle. Common methods of eyestalk ablation used include pinching, slitting, cauterization, and ligation. Pinching is the most common method used and leaves an open wound. Regardless of the intent or method, eyestalk ablation is a cruel, barbaric practice.

Eyestalk ablation has been shown to increase levels of stress in shrimp, and a study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science found that eyestalk ablation caused “behaviors related to pain, including tail flicking as a reflex response to allow escape and rubbing the affected area.” Another study, published in Animal Behaviour, ​​found that local anesthetic has an effect on prawns, which “is consistent with the idea that these crustaceans can experience pain.”

Furthermore, eyestalk ablation denies female shrimp the ability to naturally control their reproduction. Ablation causes pain and discomfort in shrimp, and is an inhumane practice.

Already, companies such as Seajoy are giving up eyestalk ablation, and research on the molecular mechanisms of ablation is helping us move toward the “ultimate goal of finding alternative methods to [...] eyestalk ablation.”

We cannot and must not allow these acts of animal cruelty continue. Sign and share this petition now to call on the USDA to ban eyestalk ablation.

Petition by Neha Jain Patkar, Daniel Wan Rosli, and Evan Baldonado for AquariumKids as part of Stanford University’s “Rethinking Meat” class.