Shrimps: The renewable resource?

Shrimp farming has had a phenomenal success in Southeast Asia and Latin America as an important earner of foreign currency. Shrimps pens are set up in the waters of mangrove swamps on the mudflats of coastal strips. Because of the methods used, shrimp farming destroys the very environment on which it depends. Development of shrimp larvae through intensive raising reduces the swamp's resources, and the continuous discharge of soiled water means that no clean water can be put into the ponds. Shrimp farming companies are now turning towards the African continent and Madagascar as they are frowned upon in those countries where they have long operated. In 1996, the Supreme Court of India even forbade shrimp farming throughout the country. In Tanzania, the African Fishing Company has been working for several years to set up the world's largest shrimp farming project at the mouth of the Rufiji river. The delta has by far the most extensive mangroves of the entire eastern coast of Africa, where numerous species can develop. Almost 30,000 people depend on fishing in the delta. Meanwhile, the Mombasa Declaration of 6 February 1998 called for a moratorium on the Rufiji project to allow for an impartial assessment of the long-term consequences of the project for the environment and local people. Signed by numerous African NGOs campaigning for sustainable development, the Declaration reminded the governments of eastern Africa of the repeated pledges to promote sustainable development that they made at the Rio de Janeiro conference in 1992 and in Arusha in 1993. Source Tanzania Lawyers' Environmental Action Team PO Box 12605 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Fax: +255 51 180 842 Email: leat@twiga.comShrimp farming has had a phenomenal success in Southeast Asia and Latin America as an important earner of foreign currency. Shrimps pens are set up in the waters of mangrove swamps on the mudflats of coastal strips. Because of the methods used,..