GREENPEACE JOINED BY VICTIMS OF SHRIMP FARMING INDUSTRY IN PROTEST AT "WORLD SHRIMP MARKETS 99"

18 October 1999

Madrid -– Greenpeace activists joined representatives of communities affected by the shrimp farming industry in protest at the World Shrimp Markets ’99 conference, which opened today in Madrid. The protest was to alert conference participants, including the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), to the dangers posed by the shrimp farming (aquaculture) industry. Shrimp farming destroys coastal environments, such as mangrove forests, and threatens the livelihood of coastal subsistence fishers and farmers.

The activists held banners at the conference entrance that said, in both Spanish and English "Shrimp Farming = Dead Mangroves", and "No New Shrimp Farms". Concurrently Greenpeace campaigners were handing out written material inside the conference. Although the local authorities were called to the scene, no arrests were made.

"More farmed shrimp on dinner tables across Europe means less coastal farmland and fishing grounds for the people of Asia and Latin America," said Eva Hernández, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace Spain. "By promoting a greater consumption of farmed shrimp by Europeans, the participants of the World Shrimp Markets conference are hindering efforts by governments in shrimp farming countries to protect their coastal resources and regulate the industry."

The construction of industrial shrimp farms in Asia and Latin America has destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of coastal wetlands, such as mangrove forests. Mangrove forests shelter a wide range of biodiversity and provide breeding and rearing habitats for three-quarters of the fish found in tropical waters. Vast areas of coastal rice growing lands in Asia have been converted to monoculture shrimp farms. Freshwater supplies of communities in shrimp production areas are so polluted by shrimp farm waste that people can no longer use them for drinking water or crop irrigation. These impacts jeopardise the food security and well being of millions of poor subsistence fishers and farmers in the third world.

Industrial shrimp farming begins with the complete destruction of mangrove forests areas, the construction of dikes creates ponds for shrimp breeding. These ponds are filled with shrimp larva, antibiotics, nutrients and chemicals – creating a monoculture in which only the shrimp can survive. Daily release and change of the water pollutes the water source with the chemical additives. Under these conditions, shrimp ponds have a life span of 5 to 7 years, after which shrimp farmers move to other mangrove areas, leaving behind barren land which is not restored.

Greenpeace is calling on the FAO, EU government officials, and European seafood importers and retailers to support its demands for a global moratorium on the expansion of the shrimp aquaculture industry, and a halt to the destruction of mangroves, including industry-funded restoration of degraded areas.

Representatives from communities affected by the shrimp industry in Honduras and Ecuador who were at the protest reminded the FAO that its code of conduct section 9.1.4 explicitly states that:

"States should ensure that the livelihoods of local communities, and their access to fishing grounds, are not negatively affected by aquaculture [shrimp farming] developments. States should establish effective procedures specific to aquaculture to undertake appropriate environmental assessment and monitoring with the aim of minimizing adverse ecological changes and related economic and social consequences resulting from water extraction, land use, discharge of effluents, use of drugs and chemicals, and other aquaculture activities."

Greenpeace also warned officials attending World Shrimp Markets ‘99 of the potential threats posed by deadly shrimp viral diseases. Industrial shrimp farms worldwide are plagued by viral diseases, which can survive even in frozen shrimp flesh. These diseases can destroy entire regions of farmed shrimp production, spread beyond contaminated farms to infect wild shrimp and fish populations, and pose broader ecological concerns. Greenpeace is calling on EU environment and health officials to investigate the possible consequences of such viruses entering European waters, particularly Mediterranean Sea, through imported farmed shrimp. These viruses can survive even in imported frozen shrimp flesh.

"Much more is now known about the dangers or shrimp farming, but we don’t see any change. In our countries the shrimp industry just keeps expanding,” said Líder Góngora, President of the National Co-ordinator for the Defence of Mangroves in Ecuador.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Líder Góngora, President of the National Co-ordinadora for the Defence of Mangroves and Eva Hernández, Greenpeace, on site, + 34 619 567 322 (mobile) Ricardo Aguilar, Greenpeace office (Madrid) + 34 91 444 14 00 Andrew Davies Greenpeace Communications, Amsterdam 31 20 5249 545