{"id":20080755,"date":"2021-11-19T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?p=80755"},"modified":"2022-01-06T23:01:20","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T17:31:20","slug":"bangladeshs-shrimp-industry-drives-freshwater-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/water\/bangladeshs-shrimp-industry-drives-freshwater-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"How Bangladesh\u2019s shrimp industry is driving a freshwater crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For nearly 50 years, commercial shrimp farming has led to short-term economic gains for Bangladesh. But, combined with the impacts of climate change, it is now proving disastrous for the environment and communities. The delta nation faces a projected 50 cm<\/a> of sea level rise by 2050, a change that will affect the increasingly populous coasts where people continue to migrate<\/a> despite growing environmental hazards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Bangladesh, sea level rise means not only significant loss of land, but also loss of livelihoods<\/a> as saltwater infiltrates streams and bodies of water that previously sustained crops, livestock and people. The threat of climate change adds to the impacts of intensive aquaculture. Over the decades, shrimp farms have artificially enhanced the penetration of saltwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USD 332.65 million<\/p>

Income from exports of shrimp in 2020 \u2013 a 77% fall from the industry\u2019s peak in 2012<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Between 1973 and 2012, income from exports of shrimp rose<\/a> from USD 2.9 million to a peak of USD 590 million. The industry boomed after Bangladesh\u2019s independence in 1971, with businesses flocking to the promising new market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohammad Aftabuzzaman, former fisheries minister, tells The Third Pole:<\/a> \u201cI became the minister for fisheries in 1980 and included commercial shrimp cultivation as official [policy], as our government believed that by exporting shrimp the country could boost its economy. And later our projection came true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But since then, earnings have been decreasing. Shrimp yields are in decline due to the spread of disease, a common occurrence<\/a> in intensive farming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n