Shrimp Farming: Problem or Solution?

Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta region is one of the most productive regions in Asia. Located at the south-western tip of the country, this rich patch of land is where the Mekong River drains to the South China Sea. Around 17 million people live in the area, which makes up about a fourth of Viet Nam’s rice agriculture area, and contributes half its fisheries output. People’s reliance on this area of land is significant, not just within Viet Nam, but around the world—this is where a considerable amount of the world’s rice and shrimp supplies originates.

In just around two decades, shrimp has drastically changed the landscape of the Delta. What were once rice fields converted from mangrove forests have now given way to miles and miles of intensive shrimp ponds. The landscape is stark and bare, and the ponds look like giant potholes in baking under the afternoon sun. In many areas, hardly any mangrove patch can be seen.

There is no doubt though that the shrimp boom has brought prosperity. Vietnam has risen to become one of the leading exporters of shrimp in the world. And these ponds, which were once considered unproductive mangrove areas, have enabled farmers to build concrete houses and buy new cars. But experts fear that this prosperity, aside from being short-lived, comes at a high price.

The Mekong Delta is an extreme example of how mangrove forests have been rapidly disappearing from the world’s ever-vulnerable coastlines. In 2007, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that in Viet Nam mangrove forests shrank from 400,000 hectares in 1950 to 157,000 ha in 2005. A study in Tra Vinh, one of Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta provinces, and a significant shrimp producer, estimated the rate of mangrove destruction at 13.1% loss annually from 1995 to 2001, up from 0.2% annually from 1965-1995. The drastic increase in deforestation is attributed to shrimp farming.

Mangrove forests not just provide valuable feeding and breeding grounds for sea life, they also protect coastlines from storm surges and help slow coastal erosion. Mangroves are necessary to enable coastlines and communities in it to adapt better to climate change impacts. Two separate studies by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have warned that the Mekong Delta was one of the global regions most vulnerable to climate change. With the loss of more than half its mangrove cover, things may not bode well for people living in this corner of Southeast Asia.

That is, unless things change. A large regional coastal initiative, Mangroves for the Future (MFF) believes that shrimp farming, which destroyed the delta’s mangoves, can bring these forests back. In Vietnam, the project is working with the government, communities, NGOs and the private sector, to pilot successful models of mangrove-shrimp farming.

The model is simple yet very effective. Shrimp farmers are given incentives to maintain or ensure that at least 40% of their farm area is covered with mangroves. This style of farming, referred to as extensive shrimp farming, or mangrove-shrimp poly-culture, is the opposite of intensive shrimp farming.

Intensive shrimp farming is considered one of the most unsustainable forms of aquaculture. Aside from being responsible for mangrove deforestation, this system relies heavily on industrial fishmeal, and the discharges from intensive farms, usually full of waste and bacteria (and also frequently, antibiotics for treating shrimp diseases developed in these choked and overpopulated farms) pollute adjacent rivers.

Extensive farming raises shrimp in their natural habitat—among mangroves, and together with other sea creatures such as clams and crabs. The shrimp, because they feed and breed naturally, are not prone to diseases and pathogens. In some model farms being promoted by MFF, shrimp are raised alongside ponds of mud clams which act as natural filters to cleanse water going to and from the river.

Aside from being the preferred ecological choice, extensive farming is also a smart business choice. Intensive farming is a huge investment risk. Farmers need to buy a lot input (industrial feed, pesticides, antibiotics), and are faced with the high risk of shrimp disease. Just one unhealthy shrimp (due to the pathogens and bacteria which proliferate in intensive shrimp ponds) can wipe out the entire harvest in two days.

The Vietnamese government is supportive, and representatives frequently visit farmers that have gone bust to offer them mangrove seedlings so they can shift to extensive farming. The process to massively shift away from industrialized shrimp farming to mangrove-shrimp poly-culture will take time. Time, however, may not be much of a luxury, given the rate at which climate change impacts are projected to intensify.

Some coastal districts are already seeing the effects of the loss of mangroves. In Tra Vinh province, for example, the government is busy expanding the Northern Hiep Thanh Dike in Duyen Hai district. The district has lost almost 800 meters of its coastline since the year 2000. But although the concrete barrier may keep storm surges at bay, the line of defence it provides remains a flimsy, and very expensive, solution. Coastal erosion is expected to get worse, and without a zone of mangroves for cover, the coastline remains severely exposed.

Meanwhile, in areas where mangroves have been planted, this natural coastal infrastructure has reduced the risk of disasters and enhanced communities’ livelihoods. Planting 9,462 hectares of forest (of which 8,961 hectares were mangroves) in 166 communes in disaster-prone northern Vietnam, was found to reduce damage to dykes from typhoons by an estimated US$ 80,000-295,000 but the total savings due to avoided risks were much higher, estimated at around US$ 15 million. The mangroves also provided additional income to the communities.

The case in Viet Nam is not unique. Countries across Southeast Asia and in many parts of the world are also experiencing the same challenges. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that unless action is taken, by 2050, Southeast Asia will potentially have lost 35 per cent of the mangrove cover it had in 2000. The loss will be accompanied by related negative socio-economic impacts, and the loss in the value of ecosystem services is estimated to exceed more than US$2 billion a year from 2000-2050.

Shrimp, indeed, comes at a high price. But what stands out even clearer the imperative to shift to more sustainable practices in our coasts whose communities and ecosystems will bear the brunt of climate change effects. And all sectors need to work towards this shift: beyond shrimp farmers and the government, there is a role here for seafood companies and consumers to support more sustainable farming.

There is hope for Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta. Mangrove forests may once more come alive where industrial shrimp ponds now stand, bringing in not just good business, but more secure lives for communities.

MFF has a Mangrove and Climate Change component which aims to realize "climate change adaptation benefits and other potential environmental services from mangroves and coastal vegetation in MFF countries of South and Southeast Asia". Read about the Mangroves and Climate Change review workshop, and how MFF embraced the ecosystem-based approach as a key to resilience-building in coastal communities.