The Powerless, The Eyeless: Abolishing Eyestalk Ablation practice in Farmed Shrimp through Ecofeminism

Abstract

Ecofeminism is a discourse in environmental philosophy that uses a feminist perspective by providing a bridge between environmental issues and the oppression experienced by women in the patriarchal system. Ecofeminism reveals the injustice position between humans and non-humans by aligning its understanding with the segregation of gender. Environmental problems are also feminist problems because they are both related to the issues of domination and exploitation. In the context of aquaculture, this can be seen in the ethical problems that befall the female shrimps that are farmed using the eyestalk ablation techniques. The eyestalk ablation is a method to increase female egg productivity in a fast and cheap way because shrimp is one of the most important commodities in Indonesia and also the whole world. This practice raises questions and also ethical issues since it poses a high risk to the life and comfort of female farmed shrimp. This paper analyzes this issue using a conceptual framework based on environmental, feminist, and animal ethics. The study concludes that shrimp have the capacity to experience pain, highlighting the importance of considering their welfare in discussions related to farmed shrimp. Ecofeminism is proposed as a solution to exploitation and imbalance in the fishing industry, with the hope of providing sustainable and equitable animal welfare for the future of an aquaculture industry.