Shrimp
Farming

A shrimp farm is an aquaculture business for the cultivation of marine shrimp or prawns for human consumption. Commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply, particularly to match the market demands of the United States, Japan and Western Europe. The total global production of farmed shrimp reached more than 1.6 million tonnes in 2003, representing a value of nearly 9 billion U.S. dollars. About 75% of farmed shrimp are produced in Asia, in particular in China, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam. The other 25% are produced mainly in Latin America, where Brazil is the largest producer. By 2016, the largest exporting nation is India, followed by Ecuador, Thailand, Indonesia and China.

As can be seen from the global production chart on the left, significant aquaculture production started slowly in the 1970s and then rapidly expanded during the 1980s. After a lull in growth during the 1990s, due to pathogens, production took off again and by 2007 exceeded the capture from wild fisheries. By 2010, the aquaculture harvest was 3.9 million tonnes, compared to 3.1 million tonnes for the capture of wild shrimp.

In the earlier years of marine shrimp farming the preferred species was the large giant tiger prawn. This species is reared in circular holding tanks where they think they are in the open ocean, and swim in "never ending migration" around the circumference of the tank. In 2000, global production was 630,984 tonnes, compared to only 146,362 tonnes for whiteleg shrimp. Subsequently, these positions reversed, and by 2010 the production of giant tiger prawn increased modestly to 781,581 tonnes while whiteleg shrimp rocketed nearly twenty-fold to 2,720,929 tonnes. The whiteleg shrimp is currently the dominant species in shrimp farming. It is a moderately large shrimp reaching a total length of 230 mm (9"), and is particularly suited to farming because it "breeds well in captivity, can be stocked at small sizes, grows fast and at uniform rates, has comparatively low protein requirements... and adapts well to variable environmental conditions." In China, prawns are cultured along with sea cucumbers and some fish species, in integrated multi-trophic systems.

The major producer of farmed shrimp is China. Other significant producers are Thailand, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Ecuador and Bangladesh. Most farmed shrimp is exported to the United States, the European Union and Japan, also other Asian markets, including South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.

Investigations by The Guardian in 2014 and The Associated Press in 2015 found human rights abuses on fishing boats operated by Thailand. The boats are manned with slaves, and catch shrimp and fish (including fish for the production of fishmeal which is fed to farmed prawns). Greenpeace has challenged the sustainability of tropical shrimp farming practices on the grounds that farming these species "has led to the destruction of vast areas of mangroves in several countries over-fishing of juvenile shrimp from the wild to supply farms." Greenpeace has placed a number of the prominent tropical shrimp species that are farmed commercially on its seafood red list, including the whiteleg shrimp, Indian prawn and giant tiger shrimp.

There is also evidence that shrimps can feel pain. Common welfare concerns include water pollution, high population densities, and the spread of diseases. Additionally, many female shrimps have their eyes cut without anesthetic in order to induce maturation of the ovaries.
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