India’s shrimp farming industry deserves to be absolved of any blame relating to the destruction of mangroves along the country’s eastern coast. This was proved based on satellite imagery as reported by a recent study by a shrimp consultant.
The area under mangrove cover on India’s east coast, between 1999 and 2022. has shown remarkable growth by 8 percent nearly around 20,000 hectares Only 0.3 percent of the total mangrove area, were converted to fish or shrimp ponds in the same time period which
is about 750 hectares of mangrove.
“Placing these figures in context fake claims accusing India’s shrimp industry of continuous and widespread mangrove destruction is not only unfair and misrepresentative, but also unfounded,” van der Pijl said in the report.
“It’s a general myth that I’m debunking,” he told IntraFish.
He reinforced what he called a general misconception about the Indian shrimp industry by certain media reports.
The Shrimp Insights report was based on a satellite imagery analysis by Indian space tech startup GalaxEye Space, using its own aquaculture pond database, as well as US-based research center Clark Labs’ mangrove database.
Four Indian states – from north to south, West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were studied as part of this mission from 1999, the benchmark year after which Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) standards prohibited the clearing of mangrove forests to build shrimp farms.
The total mangrove area in these four Indian states increased to a combined 264,469 hectares in 2022 from 245,016 hectares in 1999, according to the Shrimp Insights study.
Andhra Pradesh which is India’s largest shrimp-producing state, showed a growth of nearly one-third to 42,493 hectares. The area converted into fish and shrimp ponds out of this were only around 450 hectares.
West Bengal which includes most of India’s mangroves could register a growth by 1.6 percent to 192,665 hectares.
Van der Pijl suggested that shrimp farmers should consider spending a portion of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) budget on mangrove conservation projects in the report. As per Indian law companies must spend 3 percent of their three-year trailing average net profit on CSR programs.
“It’s in the interest of the industry and the wider Indian society that the shrimp industry and the country’s mangrove habitats not only coexist but also flourish,” he wrote in the report.
“While some deforestation has indeed happened over the past 25 years, contrary to common belief the numbers show that the scale of conversion does not justify the accusations being put on the Indian shrimp industry,” he wrote. “The industry’s impact has actually been quite limited.”
Blogger:
Dr. Sathish Prasad
Senior Scientist – Aquatic Animal Health
Growel Innovation Center,
RS NO.57, Chevuru Village, Sriharipuram Panchayat, Mudinepalli Mandal, Krishna District – Andhra Pradesh India – 521329
Email: [email protected]