Fact Check: Does the Shrimp Industry Remove Shrimps’ Eyes?

Does the shrimp industry remove shrimp’s eyes? Yes—workers in the shrimp farming industry rip out female shrimp eyes. A post shared on Reddit about the removal of female shrimp eyes shocked readers, and several commenters claimed they would be going vegan after learning about it. Find out why the shrimp industry mutilates these sensitive ocean animals and what you can do to help.

Why Does the Seafood Industry Remove Shrimp’s Eyes?

Shrimp have eyes not just for vision but for hormonal regulation. Inside their eyestalks is a gland that controls reproduction. Workers crush, cut, or burn off the eyestalks of female shrimp to manipulate their bodies into producing more eggs. This painful process, known as eyestalk ablation, is as disturbing as it sounds—and it’s happening to countless sensitive ocean animals every day.

Eyestalk Ablation Is a Nightmare for Shrimp in the Seafood Industry

Crushing, cutting, and burning their eyestalks causes immense suffering to shrimp farmed for food. While shrimp look different from humans, we’re alike in the ways that matter most. Every animal is someone. Studies have shown that crustaceans like shrimp have central nervous systems. They feel pain and emotional stress. They talk to each other using sound or polarized light. With more than 2,500 species of shrimp out there, we’ve only scratched the surface of how fascinating these ocean animals are.

Is Wild-Caught Shrimp Ok?

Shrimp who live in their natural habitat won’t have had their eyestalks removed like shrimp labeled “farm fresh,” but they suffer in other ways. Shrimp are often stolen from their ocean homes by trawlers—enormous bag-shaped nets are pulled along the ocean floor that catch every rock, piece of coral, and fish in its path. Bottom trawling literally scrapes the ocean floor clean of life and has been aptly compared to clearcutting old-growth forests for all the destruction it does to the natural environment and the animals who live there. These nets rip hundreds of tons of animals, including shrimp, out of the ocean, squeezing some of them so tightly against the sides that their eyes bulge and burst out of their skulls. For hours, trapped fish are dragged along the ocean floor with netted rocks, coral, and ocean debris. When hauled out of the water, surviving fish, shrimp, and other sea animals undergo excruciating decompression. The intense internal depressurization can pop out their eyes, and push their esophagi and stomachs out through their mouths.

Leave the Fish in the Sea: Choose Vegan Seafood

You can enjoy a shrimp cocktail without supporting cruel practices like eyestalk ablation and deep-sea trawling. With today’s delicious, innovative vegan seafood options—including animal-free shrimp —you can enjoy the ocean’s flavors without harming its inhabitants.