Industrial aquaculture: Human intervention in natural law

Abstract

The meteoric growth of both the shrimp and salmon farming industries has had noticeable adverse global environmental and social impacts. Shrimp aquaculture represents a powerful global industry that has an annual retail value of over $50-60 billion dollars. Meanwhile, vital coastal mangroves are being cleared to make way for expanding shrimp farming. Coastal poor fishing and farming communities are losing their once sustainable food sources as their traditional agriculture and fisheries are being steadily despoiled by the shrimp industry's operations, whose profits concentrate in the hands of wealthy investors. The shrimp produced have never become a food source for those who are truly hungry in the producer nations. The great majority of the farmed shrimp are exported to the wealthier nations. There is an urgent need to counter these market forces that are devastating mangrove forests and ruining the lives and livelihoods for tens of millions of indigenous peoples and traditional community residents who rely on healthy coastal environments for their lives and livelihoods. This chapter will focus mainly on shrimp aquaculture, but will also highlight some important and related aspects of salmon farming. Implications of the environmental, social and legal aspects of modern industrial aquaculture will be explored and the serious repercussions engendered by the present course of open, throughput systems of aquaculture will be presented. The power and effect of consumer choices and more sustainable, ecologically- and socially-friendly, closed-system aquaculture alternatives will be discussed.