ASIA:NewsRoom

Position Statement

We, the members of this network, hereby express our grave concern regarding industrial aquaculture, characterized by one or more of the following factors:

• export-oriented, large-scale form of production
• monopoly/oligopoly of production, procurement and/or trade i.e. a concentration to one or a few actors in each country, with negative effectson local farmers and their choices, abilities and opportunities
• monoculture of production, which has or will have a severe impact onbiodiversity and livelihood
• use of external inputs in the production process for an artificially created demand

This form of production exceeds the capacity of the environment.

With respect to the impacts on the producing countries, this production is characterized by:

• environmental destruction of marine and terrestrial biodiversity, wetlands and the intertidal zone including mangrove forests, agricultural land, water resources, and coastal ecosystems.
• devastating socio-economic consequences in terms of loss of livelihood and food security, as well as displacement of people and communities.
• human rights violations in the shape of extensive use of violence and threats of violence against the local communities and the erosion of basic needs such as education, health, safe water, shelter, as well as environmental and human security.

We oppose this form of production, and we are concerned about current trends of justifying this form of production as sustainable.

We recognize that the current form and level of production is a result of the global demand. Consequently, our activities aim at reversing current patterns of consumption.

Our activities currently focus on, but are not limited to, the production of industrial shrimps in our countries that is characterized by the factors mentioned above.