GIS in support to data analysis for enhanced sustainability of shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Over the last twenty years, extensive shrimp aquaculture has dramatically expanded in the coastal fringe of the Mekong Delta. This occurred primarily at the expense of the mangrove, already severely affected by the Vietnam war. More recently, paddy land has been reclaimed for shrimp aquaculture, a higher currency earner. However, production collapses have frequently occurred and the overall yield has remained far below the expectations for traditional farming. A number of parameters enter into play in the success of this activity, summarized in two questions: i) is the Mekong deltaïc environment - under high continental pressure - suitable to shrimp farming, ii) if not, is it possible to adapt the low technicity of rural poor farmers to reach economic sustainability? This paper is based on the analysis of two full sets of data. Ecological data are composed of hydrobiological, hydrodynamical and land cover data. The former were collected at a number of stations encompassing the local variability, the latter were derived from processing Spot imagery. Surveys of farms zootechniques and management were conducted over a network of shrimp farms, with the objective of determining the part played by these data in farming efficiency, with respect to the environmental conditions. Statistical methods, i.e. PCA for continuous variables and MCA (Multiple Correspondance Analysis) for qualitative ones respectively provided a zonation of the stations and a classification of the farms. GIS illustrated the distribution of the latter within the former. Summarizing yields per ecological zone revealed a production pattern that might lead to review present land use planning policy and in particular the widespread "integrated mangrove-shrimp" system