Impact of shrimp aquaculture development on important ecosystems in India

Abstract

The rapid growth of aquaculture has raised the environmental concern about the conversion of ecologically important areas such as mangroves and agricultural lands. The study explored the impact of shrimp aquaculture on land use change in India’s coastal wetlands using Landsat satellite data, geographical information system techniques and field verification. From 1988 to 2013, the area under aquaculture has grown by 879 %, which brought the tremendous changes in the coastal land use pattern. Mangrove and agriculture lands have been used for 5.04 % and 28.10 % of the aquaculture growth. Mudflats, scrublands, saltpan, and waterbodies have contributed to 51.65 %, 1.76 %, 1.73 % and 2.37 % of the aquaculture area expansion respectively. Mangrove areas have undergone severe changes due to gain and loss at different places. Environmental factors influenced the changes in mangroves, and the overall extent of mangrove has increased by 13.44 %. Construction activities and aquaculture have reduced the agricultural land by 3.52 % and 0.53 % respectively. The variation between the actual area under shrimp aquaculture and the Coastal Aquaculture Authority approved area indicate that the larger extent of shrimp farm operates without approval. Implementation of an intensive monitoring program for strict adherence to coastal aquaculture regulation laws will be helpful for the sustainability of coastal resources as well as aquaculture.