Press Release: Giant Shrimp Farming Project Threatens Brazil's Precious Marine Biodiversity

Bahia's State Environment Council is today deliberating on whether to issue an environmental licence permitting what would be the biggest shrimp farm development in Brazil. Recognised as being of immense environmental importance, much of the area in question should be protected as a Permanent Preservation Area, as recognised in Brazilian law. Yet, if a licence for development is given, 800 hectares (equivalent to 800 football pitches) of precious coastal habitat will be deforested. The most biologically diverse coral reefs in the entire southern Atlantic Ocean would also be put at risk.

As consumption levels of tropical shrimp, a favoured delicacy in Western markets, have increased massively over recent decades, shrimp farming has taken off as a means to reap profits from global demand. Brazil has experienced rapid and unprecedented growth in the industry, with more than 70% of its shrimp being exported, mainly to Europe. Yet the environmental and social costs have frequently been disregarded, and this current proposed development is another example of short-term profits taking precedence over long-term sustainability. This is ironic considering President Lula’s recent speech at the ministerial meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, where he declared it unacceptable for the poorest countries in the world to bear the brunt of environmental degradation caused by unsustainable consumption of resources by the developed world.

The Abrolhos region, centred around the coastal town of Caravelas in the far south of Bahia, northeast Brazil, is home to mangrove forests and restinga (a uniquely Brazilian ecosystem of sparsely vegetated sand ridges) and a complex of small islands, coral and algal reefs. Despite the location in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, 1,517 hectares of mangrove and restinga have been acquired by a group of shrimp farm enterprises: COOPEX (Cooperativa de Criadores de Camarão do Extremo Sul da Bahia), which is understood to include European, namely, Portuguese business interests. An environmental impact assessment carried out on behalf of the cooperative was found to be weak and deficient, raising real fears about the environmental and social impacts that the project would create.

Recognised by Brazil’s Ministry of Environment as being of Extreme Biological Importance, the area holds not only conservation significance, but its natural resources directly support more than 300 families who survive through shellfish collecting, farming and fishing. In the region as a whole, 20,000 people are involved in artisanal fishing, an activity dependent on the environmental quality of local estuaries. “The ecosystems of Abrolhos are fragile, and directly depend on the health and integrity of the mangroves existing between the municipalities of Caravelas and Nova Viçosa. A development of this scale, daily utilising 880,000 m3 of clean water, replete with fish and shellfish larvae, whilst returning water loaded with organic material and chemical products, will invoke a negative impact on the surrounding environment” affirmed the biologist Guilherme Dutra, of Conservation International’s Marine Programme (CI-Brazil).

“The experiences with shrimp farming in other regions of Brazil have revealed that the activity is not sustainable from social and environmental points of view,” asserts Soraya Vanini of Instituto Terramar, an NGO based in the state of Ceará where rapid shrimp farming expansion has occurred. Shrimp farm developments elsewhere have invoked hugely damaging environmental consequences, such as habitat destruction and water contamination; as well as hardship for some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country, with fisherfolk being expelled from their lands and access to traditional fishing grounds being prohibited.

This has led environmentalists, researchers and others to mobilize to prevent the proposed development in Bahia. The NGO alliance “Coalition SOS Abrolhos: Threatened Fisherfolk and Mangroves” (“Coalizão SOS Abrolhos: Pescadores e Manguezais Ameaçados”) is calling for a prohibition to what would be a severely environmentally and socially damaging decision if the licence is given.

Images and Reports available on request.

(1) "Coalition SOS Abrolhos: Threatened Fisherfolk and Mangroves" ("Coalizão SOS Abrolhos: Pescadores e Manguezais Ameaçados") comprises - Conservation International (CI-Brazil); Fundação SOS Mata Atlantica; Instituto Terramar; Grupo Ambientalista da Bahia (Gamba); Instituto Baleia Jubarte; Patrulha Ecologica; Associação de Estudos Costeiros e Marinhos de Abrolhos (ECOMAR); Movimento Cultural Arte Manha; Environmental Justice Foundation UK (EJF); Mangrove Action Project US (MAP).

(2) COOPEX’s Environmental Impact Study/Environmental Impact Report (EIA/RIMA) was presented at a public hearing on the project in November 2005. Led by Conservation International Brazil, researchers produced an independent brief outlining a series of questions regarding the project, presenting in detail weak points and contradictions of COOPEX’s EIA and recommending that the licence for the project be disqualified and rejected. This was presented to the State Environmental Resources Center – CRA (Centro de Recursos Ambientais). Despite the various clarifications requested, no alterations have been made to the project and the concerns raised seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

(3) Inconsistencies in the licensing process led to a suspension by a Caravelas district judge, but licensing is now back in the hands of the State Environment Council in Bahia. The coalition, supported by Fernanda Alvez of the Federal Public Ministry in Ilheus, Bahia, maintain that there is a lack of administrative competency for this licensing, and that responsibility should be put in the hands of the national government, through the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA).

(4) In 2005, a Working Group of the Chamber of Deputies identified a series of ecosystem and social impacts generated by shrimp farming in Brazil. Modification of tidal flows, habitat extinction of numerous species, the transmission of diseases among crustaceans, and the contamination of water are among the environmental impacts identified. In addition, there exists a high risk of introduction of an exotic species of shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei, the species predominantly used in Brazilian shrimp farming, is native to the waters of the Pacific Ocean) into the mangroves with potential implications for the native species of shrimp and other fisheries resources. The report also reveals that the establishment of shrimp farms, disappearance of species, alongside prohibition of access to areas of shellfish harvesting, and the expulsion of fisherfolk leads to conflicts over land and impoverishment of traditional populations.

(5) COOPEX claims that the shrimp farm development will generate 1500 jobs. Environmentalists, however, are doubtful of this promise. In the large farms of the Brazilian northeast state of Ceará, which are on a similar scale to the proposed project, only 0.2 jobs were generated per farmed hectare. This would signify a little less than 450 positions for the COOPEX project.

(6) Development of the shrimp farm is also likely to deny those relying on extractivist activities such as shellfish collection, of their main source of income. Shrimp farming is liable also to have a negative impact on alternative economic activities in the region, such as tourism. (Carlos Aguiar, of the NGO Patrulha Ecologica)

(7) The area is already under study for implementation of an Extractive Reserve. This is a Brazilian category of sustainable use protected area, which is managed by a council composed of local artisanal communities (>50% of the council), and other stakeholders (government, NGOs, private sector). “The creation of the Reserve would be compatible with the sustainable use of natural resources for the protection of local communities of shellfish harvesters, crab collectors, artisans, farmers and fisherfolk, without prejudicing the environment. It is a measure coherent with public policies that the government has conducted in the region, such as integrated tourism, fisheries, and environmental protection” (Jorge Galdino – Movimento Cultural Arte Manha)

(8) The region of Abrolhos is an extension of the continental platform which commences near the mouth of the Doce River, in the state of Espirito Santo, and continues until the mouth of the Jequitinhonha River in the state of Bahia. Around 56,000 km2, Abrolhos is comprised of a mosaic of marine and coastal environments bordered by remnants of Atlantic Rainforest, including coral reefs, algae banks, mangroves, beaches, and restingas. The region has the largest concentration of coral reefs in the South Atlantic, with various endemic species, including the brain coral, crustaceans and molluscs, as well as marine turtles and mammals threatened by extinction. In addition, it is the location preferred by humpback whales (baleias-jubarte) for reproduction and nursing their young. In 2002, the Abrolhos region was declared an area of Extreme Biological Importance by the Ministry of Environment, based on the Brazilian commitment to the Convention on Biodiversity. The first National Marine Park of Brazil was created exactly in this region, in 1983, along the islands that compose the Abrolhos Archipelago, where some of the most important colonies of marine birds in the country are encountered.

English-speaking

Guilherme Dutra – Biologist, Director of Marine Program of Conservation International (concerning environmental and social aspects of the region).
Contact: +55 (71) 2201-0700
g.dutra@conservacao.org
Renato Cunha – Coordinator of Environmental Group of Bahia - Gambá (concerning questions related to the state government, CRA, CEPRAM).
Contact: +55 (71) 3240-6822 / (71) 9983-2871
renato@gamba.org.br
Elaine Corets – Latin American Coordinator, Mangrove Action Project,
Contact: +1 (206) 419-4503
manglar@comcast.net
Anna Gray – Campaign Assistant, Environmental Justice Foundation
Contact: +44 (0)20 7359 0440
anna.gray@ejfoundation.org
www.ejfoundation.org

Portuguese-speaking

Paulo Gustavo Prado – Director of Environmental Policy of Conservation International (concerning harmonization of public policies).
Contact: +55 (61) 3226-2491.
Paulo Beckenkanp – Biologist, Director-President of the Association of Coastal and Marine Studies – ECOMAR (environmental and social aspects of the region).
Contact: +55 (73) 3297-1866 / 3297-1111
Eduardo Camargo – Administrative Manager of Instituto Baleia Jubarte, has worked 13 years in the region (about environmental aspects).
Contact: +55 (73) 3297-1340 / 8102- 4058
Jorge Galdino – Cultural Movement Arte Manha (concerning social aspects of the region).
Contact: +55 (73) 3297-2155
Carlos Aguiar (Kid) – Ecological Patrol – Escola da Vida (concerning social aspects of the region).
Contact: +55 (73) 8809-9453 / 3297-1340
Soraya Vanini – Fisheries Engineer. Instituto Terramar (concerning shrimp farming in Brazil).
Contato: +55 (85) 3226 2476 / (85) 8816-9216
Mário Mantovani – Geographer, Director of Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica (concerning shrimp farming in Brazil).
Contact: +55 (11) 3055-7888 / (11) 8425-2122
José Augusto Tosato – Regional Manager of IBAMA in Eunapólis.
Contact: +55 (73) 3281-2768
Júlio Rocha – Superintendent of IBAMA in Bahia.
Contact: +55 (71) 3172-1650
Valmir Ortega – Director of Ecosystems of IBAMA.
Contato: +55 (61) 3316-1163/64
Maurício Mercadante – Director de Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment (concerning public policies).
Contact +55 (61) 3317-1042
Federal Public Ministry – Fernanda Alves: Procurador of the Republic (information about the recommendation moved by the FPM).
Contact: +55 (73) 3231 6902 (MPF/Ilhéus)
Public Ministry of State of Bahia – Sérgio Mendes: Coordinator of Atlantic Rainforest Nucleus
(information about the Civil Public Action, the injunction, and its repeal)
Contact: +55 (71) 3322-9469