Shrimp - Don't Be 'Shellfish'

What Greenpeace is doing and what you can do

The environmental damage and the toll on coastal communities caused by shrimp farming are being driven by an insatiable appetite for shrimp. Ultimately, this is an issue for consumers to decide because the United States, Europe, and Japan import most total world production of farmed shrimp.

In the US, where half the farmed shrimp traded internationally ends up , much of it is sold at supermarket seafood counters or served at chain restaurants with names like Red Lobster, Bubba Gump, Long John Silvers and Sizzler. Red Lobster alone sells nearly five percent of the farmed shrimp produced worldwide.

Greenpeace is working with local activists in farmed shrimp producing counties and at the United Nations to prevent further damage by shrimp farming. Some progress has been made on the diplomatic front, but the most effective challenges have been non violent confrontation of the problem. Over the past several years, we have sent our ships to Central America to support local communities and the environment that are being ravaged by the uncontrolled expansion of shrimp farming.

We're also working with people who are challenging the shrimp farming industry in other parts of the world. It may be that aquaculture can help alleviate hunger and malnutrition in developing nations if done in an environmentally sensible way. But the shrimp-farming industry provides an expensive species for export to wealthy overseas markets, especially the U.S. These shrimp are a luxury we can ill afford.

What you can do:
Ask your local grocer and restaurant owner where the shrimp that they offer comes from and how it was produced. And if you feel uncomfortable about the fact that the environmental and social damage caused by shrimp farming leads directly back to your dinner plate, ask yourself: what should I do about it; do I need to eat it al all??

Read more:
Human Impacts - The effects of this lucrative export trade on local communities
Don't Be 'Shellfish' - What Greenpeace is doing and what you can do
Shrimp facts and figures
Photo Gallery