Shrimp culture - its ecological imperatives and eco ethical solutions

Abstract

The number of shrimp farming countries grown from 33 in 1984 to 62 in 2001. In 1997, 27% of the shrimp consumed came from aquaculture and percentage in increasing as shrimp catches from the seas world over declines (Primevera, 1977). The total shrimp production in the world stands at approximately 3 million tonnes per annum of which farmed shrimp formed 700,000 tonnes in 1999. Now it stands at 1.1 14 million metric tonnes, a five-fold increase from 2,13,640 tonnes in 1985. Almost half the international . trade is cornered by shrimp and shrimp products produced through aquaculture, with the top five producers being Thailand, Ecuador, Indonesia, China and India. The United States is the single largest importer of shrimp, though India markets a substantial portion of its produce to Japan, Singapore and the European Union Countries.