SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF SHRIMP CULTURE

Farmed shrimp contributed 27% of total world shrimp production in 1995 with a volume of 712 000 tonnes. Undoubtedly, the shrimp culture indu stry earns valuable foreign exchange for developing countries and gene rates jobs across the industry from fry gatherers to growers and proce ssors. However, grave socio-economic consequences - including conversi on, expropriation and privatization of mangroves and other lands; sali nization of water and soil; decline in food security; marginalization of coastal communities, unemployment and urban migration; and social c onflicts have followed in the wake of shrimp farm development in the P hilippines and other tropical countries. The paper focuses on mangrove ecosystems: the valuation and cost-benefit analysis of their goods an d services, and the mangrove-offshore fisheries connection. Research g aps in these areas and the need to internalize the ecological and soci o-economic costs ('externalities') of shrimp farming are highlighted. Other recommendations include mangrove conservation and rehabilitation , enforcement of existing legislation, and introduction of environment -friendly aquaculture within the broader framework of community-based, integrated coastal area management, e.g. the traditional, extensive p olyculture ponds in Indonesia.