Hungry for change

Shrimp (or prawn) is a major commodity worth billions of dollars in international trade. Shrimp production - from both capture and aquaculture - reached 4.2 million tonnes in 2000, compared with 2.4 million tonnes in 1987, and continues to increase. Whilst the majority of shrimp are caught from the wild, at least 25% of total production comes from shrimp farming, which is worth more than US$7 billion per year.

Wild shrimp are caught by trawlers that drag large, fine-mesh nets along the seabed or through deep waters. Trawling is a catch-all technique and, in the tropics, these nets can take over 400 marine species as bycatch (non-target species caught incidentally). Most of this bycatch is discarded, dead or dying, back into the sea. Tropical shrimp fisheries alone are responsible for 27.3% of the world's discarded catch, despite producing less than 2% of global seafood.

Since the late 1980s, shrimp farming has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the seafood industry. Shrimp aquaculture is today a predominantly export-oriented industry serving consumers in developed countries. It has created promises of riches, so seductive that the ideal of a Blue Revolution, serving local food needs, has been crushed by the destructive, poorly planned, and irresponsible practices of entrepreneurs seeking quick profits.

Farmed shrimp are generally raised in shallow coastal ponds, mainly in tropical countries such as Thailand, Ecuador, Brazil, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Around 99% of global production comes from developing nations, predominantly in Asia. Lax regulation and enforcement of environmental legislation has enabled shrimp farm expansion to take place at significant cost to local populations and their environments.

Coastal mangrove forests have been especially damaged. Estimates of total global mangrove loss over the last 20 years range between 25% and 35%. Shrimp farming's contribution to this loss varies between countries, but in those that are the largest producers of farmed shrimp, the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA) report that 20-50% of all current mangrove deforestation is due to shrimp farming.