My first introduction to shrimp as a poor-man’s staple was in 1983 in rural Palawan in the Philippines. I was manager of a pearl farm and supervised 29 employees, and many of them still practiced subsistence living. Those who worked for me on the rafts set lines and traps regularly, and were more able to focus on my priorities after obtaining ulam for their families for the evening meal. I recall common dishes with shrimp: bagoong, sugpo, hipon, paksiw, pinakbet. In the last two decades shrimp has become a high-value cash-crop, marketed mainly to the wealthy in Europe, North America, and Japan. Shrimp farming is now a major world industry—part of the "Blue Revolution." At the same time, highly efficient fishing gear has resulted in gross over-harvesting of marine fish populations, far beyond sustainable levels. Coincidentally, aquaculture has compensated by producing quantities of fishery products without impacting marine stocks.

Governments and international donors promote shrimp farming to increase economic prosperity and alleviate poverty in developing countries. However, the rise of export-oriented shrimp production has met strong opposition from people whose lives have not benefited. There are serious socio-economic, environmental, and political concerns that have gone largely unnoticed in the west. It is now widely acknowledged by many who are familiar with shrimp farming that it inflates land value, and leads to conflict over access to natural resources, loss of traditional rights, and displacement of indigenous peoples. It also contributes to poor working conditions, landlessness, and poverty – including impacts on health and education and, ironically, food security.

In tropical developing countries large areas of coastal agricultural land – mainly mangrove forests – have been converted to shrimp aquaculture. In the 1980s and 1990s about 35% of the all mangrove forests disappeared, worldwide, primarily through conversion to shrimp farms. Salt water intrusion changes soil composition, hurts terrestrial crop productivity, and pollutes water supplies. Health and livelihoods of rural farming communities have been hurt by shrimp aquaculture.

An unexpected link has been discovered between destruction of mangrove and declines of capture fisheries. As it happens, many marine fish are born in these coastal wetlands. They serve as nurseries. Conversion of mangrove forest to shrimp farms also blocks access by indigenous communities to coastal and estuarine resources, and further marginalizes these people in degraded environments. Loss of mangroves also increases the risk to coastal communities from cyclones and tidal waves. Considering all the hidden costs generated by shrimp farming, the industry is not sustainable.

Not all shrimp are farm-raised. But wild shrimp fisheries also have serious problems. Trawlers haul-in 20 pounds of other fish for every pound of shrimp they catch. Shockingly, most of this "by-catch" is thrown overboard, dead, back to the ocean. Shrimpers catch hundreds of species, and have limited capacity, so they bring home only the high-value shrimp. They reduce populations of fish which coastal fishermen seek as well as populations of rare creatures such as seahorses and turtles.

Compared to traditional agriculture, shrimp farming generates meager employment. Conversion to shrimp aquaculture has lead to the unemployment and displacement of many hundreds of thousands of people from lands used sustainably for generations. Poor working conditions are common at shrimp processing plants. Women are particularly exploited. There are well-documented reports of sexual abuse of women at these plants. The link between shrimp processing and sexual abuse is so strong that reputation alone affects marriage prospects of women working in the industry. Those who campaign against their employers have been subject to violent intimidation, and even rape. Children are also seriously harmed by the industry. As a consequence of salt intrusion into water supplies and reduced farm land, where shrimp farms are established, children must quit school to help their families find food and water. Children also spend long hours collecting shrimp fry, or working in processing plants where unsanitary conditions put their health at risk. In the past decade child labor has been reported in the shrimp industry in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Peru and Ecuador.

Weak and corrupt governments encourage exploitation and illegal expansion of the industry. Grassroots opposition has been met with intimidation, violence, and imprisonment. In at least 11 countries people protesting exploitation and expansion of shrimp aquaculture have been murdered. In Bangladesh over 150 persons have died in this way.

Human rights abuses take place with apparent support of police, judges, and the military. Shrimp aquaculture, as currently practiced, has led to violation of basic human rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and United Nations Covenants on Human Rights. These negative social impacts far outweigh the economic benefits. We, the consumers, are implicated, along with our governments, our financial institutions, and our development agencies. As an individual, I acknowledge the negative impacts associated with shrimp aquaculture. Workers are exploited. The environment is destroyed. Human rights are abused. Working in aquaculture over the past 25 years I have gained some personal knowledge of the situation. While studying at the University of the Philippines toward an M.S. in aquaculture I was employed as intern manager at a shrimp farm near Capiz in 1986. Following that experience I have avoided work with shrimp but several of my former classmates still own or operate shrimp farms. On-assignment in Madagascar in 1997 I visited shrimp farms, and worked with coastal village leaders and trawler-owners on the issue of by-catch. My response, in recent years, has been to buy and eat shrimp only if they carry credible fair trade and environmental labels. In central Arkansas this means, essentially, that I avoid shrimp.

Further resources: