Environment and aquaculture in developing countries

Table 12. Cruelacean production per lengthofmastline
in Asia. (Source: FA0 1992a).

1987 1990
production production
Countrieshgiona (kkrn-l) (tkm-l)

Taiwan
Bangladesh
Thailand
Vietnam
China
Singapore
India
Philippines
Indonesia
Malaysia

Developing Asia-Pacific 2.1 2.7
Developed Asia-Pacific 0.1 0.1

Regional average 1.7 2.1

By 1990, however, production fell to 19.4
t-km-l in Taiwan, at the same time
Thailand, Bangladesh, Vietnam and China
increased their production to 37.1 t.km-l,
26.6 t.krnA1, 11.7 t-km-l and 10.8 bkm-l,
respectively. The rest of the major
producers (including India, Indonesia and
the Philippines) remained well below 10

bkm-l. The high production level reached

by Taiwan in 1987 has not proven

sustainable, but the wide gap

between the first five countriedterritories

and the rest shows that shrimp production

potentials in the region are still far from

being fully utilized.

Shrimp culture is presently regarded

as the most obdurate destroyer of man-

groves, which are now acknowledged as

highly valuable coastal resources. Beyond.

doubt, pond culture not only eradicates

the natural mangrove vegetation, but the

construction of canals and dikes also alter

irreversibly the hydrological characteris-

tics of the areas. Much damage has been

done to mangrove habitats in the major

shrimp producing countries and the de-

struction continues despite major efforts

of the governments involved (Mepham

and Petr 1987). However, the develop-

ment of shrimp culture is not as closely

related to the availability of mangroves as

often perceived. The relationship between

the cultured shrimp production of a coun-

try and its mangrove resources is almost

an inverse one (Fig. 4). One could argue

that shrimp culture has already destroyed

Australia

Malaysia

Myanmar

Papua New Guinea

Bangladesh

India

Vietnam

Pakistan

Philippines

f hailand

China 0.07 : 186.2

I 1 1 I I I I I I I 1

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 50 100 150 200 250

Mangrove area ( 1983) Cultured shrimp ( 1990)

( ha. lo6) (t ,103)

Fig. 4. Relationship between mangrove resources and cultured shrimp production. (Sources:

Saenger et al. 1983; FA0 1992a).