Discuss: All You Can Eat

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world are deeply concerned about the intentions of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to form the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC). Strong opposition to this latest among many such recent certification initiatives is based upon years of our collective experience in working to counter the negative effects of the shrimp aquaculture industry and to spotlight the major flaws in current certification processes. We see the ASC as yet another attempt by a Big International NGO to formulate some ill-conceived plan to remedy the problems of unsustainable industrial shrimp farming. These kinds of remedies do not involve the local communities and grassroots movements in the process of defining steps to be taken, and therefore exclude those peoples most affected by the industry’s ongoing assaults as readily evidenced in such locations as Lampung, Indonesia or Muisne, Ecuador, in Khulna, Bangladesh or Choluteca, Honduras.

Our concerns were delivered in person in both Guayaquil, Ecuador by the Latin American Network, RedManglar last October, and by ASIA, Red Manglar and MAP in Bangkok, Thailand last November during WWF’s so-called “Shrimp Aquaculture Dialogue.” Our stated concerns still apply, and the attempts by WWF and other intended certifiers of farmed shrimp are not supported by the global network of NGOs, local communities, academics and citizens who are still demanding a moratorium on further expansion of this socially disruptive and ecologically destructive industry.

Thanks for that news, Alfredo. It’s work like yours, ASIA, and Red Manglar on the ground with local communities that has more potential for positive impact than big certifying schemes.

Erik
Orion Grassroots Network

Thanks to Orion for covering this and to Alfredo and MAP for their excellent work.

Be sure to ask before you eat shrimp!  And keep this important conversation going.

I just got turned on to Orion, and yours was the first article I read. Being a Texan (Austin), I usually look for “Texas brown shrimp” in the local markets.  What I haven’t been asking about is the source of the shrimp I eat in restaurants. Your article was very insightful, and will make me stop and think, and make more conscious choices.  Thanks!

Carol W. (Austin, Texas)

I won’t eat any farm raised shrimp, or salmon either, and haven’t for years now for ecological reasons. So pretty much that means no shrimp for me. But living in Maine we’re in the midst of cold water shrimp season, small, sweet shrimp caught by local fishers and often sold by them from trucks along the side of the road. They are so good, totally different tasting than “regular” shrimp. And so tender. I just bought a couple of pounds to make scampi for my son and his family visiting from Vermont. They are in for a treat.

I’ve enjoyed shrimp twice this last week, little knowing they’d be the last I’ll eat - after reading this article.  Just not participating by not purchasing a particular item, such as shrimp, is a simple, easy starting point for making a difference.  Every dollar we spend is a vote for something - whether it be recycled paper toilet paper, organic and/or locally grown food, sustainably harvested mussels, even “second hand” i.e., recycled clothes, cars, etc., etc.,....

smlowry, I was going to ask about Maine shrimp. They are $4/pound right now in NYC and they look and taste so much better than imported shrimp. Why are they so cheap? Is it that they’re only sold with shells on and people can’t be bothered to deal with the shells? I can’t imagine any other reason why they wouldn’t cost more - a lot more! - than the other varieties, since otherwise they are more desirable in every way. (Personally I think the shells are desirable in their own right because it’s very easy to make stock with them).
Also, for anyone interested in reading more on this issue, I recommend an article the Guardian did on shrimp farming in Vietnam back in September:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/21/fooddrinks.food

Maine shrimp are generally cheap (less than a dollar a pound in the state) because consumers tend to prefer larger, easier-to-peel Gulf or farm-raised shrimp over the tiny, succulent Pandalus borealis, which is why Downeast fishermen have turned to alternative methods of distribution: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/3226/