Recommendations
on industrial shrimp aquaculture
Whereas the rapid expansion of industrial
shrimp aquaculture has caused serious loss and degradation of mangrove
forests and other important wetland ecosystems;
Whereas the ability of local communities
to sustainably manage wetland resources is seriously compromised
and threatened by industrial shrimp aquaculture and their basic
human rights seriously violated;
Whereas there has been evidence that
this expansion of industrial shrimp aquaculture is threatening the
integrity of several Ramsar sites including the Chilika Lake in
India, the Sunderbans in Bangladesh and the Bundala in Sri Lanka;
The Global Biodiversity Forum
calls upon RAMSAR to:
* Support the international call by several
organizations representing communities and NGOs from shrimp producing/exporting
and consuming countries present at the GBF for the imposition of
a global moratorium to halt the further establishment or expansion
of shrimp farming while encouraging the closure of those shrimp
farms that are currently operating illegally. During the moratorium,
a period of transition or conversion from the use of destructive
technologies or practices to more responsible practices should be
initiated to ensure the long term survival and health of ecosystems
and the viability of a variety of sustainable human activities dependent
on those systems.
* Ensure that all processes and activities
related to wetlands management and use must guarantee the true participation
of local and indigenous communities including marginalised social
groups and women.
* Support and empower local and indigenous
communities in wetlands and coastal areas to secure their land rights
and their rights to control decision-making concerning the use of
resources on which they depend and the long term development of
sustainable activities which guarantee their dignity and the protection
of the environment.
* Help develop a transparent dialogue
among relevant stakeholders on the problems of industrial shrimp
farming, the improved implementation and enforcement of existing
policies concerning the control of shrimp farming, and the development
of new environmental and social standards.
* Support the various local communities'
and NGOs' initiatives directed at genuine, community-based, sustainable
coastal resource management and to assist local and indigenous communities
in their initiatives through relevant programmes.
* Call on Multilateral Development Banks
and international development agencies to honour the moratorium.
* Encourage governments to strictly prohibit
destructive fishing techniques that destroy coastal wetlands.
* National and regional conferences on
wetland issues should provide the opportunity for the full participation
of local community leaders and NGOs in both policy development and
implementation.
* Considering that the Sunderbans is
the largest continous mangrove forest in the world and that a project
(the Sunderbans Biodiversity Conservation Project) to conserve its
biodiversity is being developed, we recommend Ramsar to establish
a working model of a truly participatory process to be applied to
this initiative. Continous monitoring and open access to information
for all interested parties should be an integral part of this process.
Given that shrimp farming is the major economic activity impacting
the the buffer zone, this area should be declared as a "shrimp
farm free zone".
