Shrimp Farming and the Environment - Library

traditional rights of local users, and avoiding where possible one-time cash compensationsettlements;• Assignment of legal liabilities for environmental damage; and• Provisions for regular environmental monitoring and reporting.Sector EA and coastal aquaculture development and management plansWhether they are stand-alone or part of a wider ICM initiative, sector plans for coastal aquaculturedevelopment and management are likely to be a prerequisite for sustainable shrimp farming. Theyshould be based on thorough sector or regional environmental assessment. The following issues mightbe addressed in a thorough sector assessment and plan:• Identification of suitable areas for shrimp culture development, taking into account the needsof other resource users, the need for biodiversity conservation, the technology likely to beused, and environmental capacity;• Procedures for resolving any resource use conflicts that may arise (for example, betweenaquaculturists and fishermen or rice farmers);• Incentives and constraints to promote development in suitable areas in line with the carryingcapacity. This might include, for example, zoning schemes with associated infrastructure (e.g.,water supply and disposal, processing and marketing facilities or services), exclusion zones,registration/licensing requirements and associated economic or regulatory incentives andconstraints, limits on production or new entrants;• Criteria for the application of project or farm EA, and environmental standards against whichimpacts can be assessed. Ideally, these standards should be developed as part of sector EA andbe based specifically on local ecological and hydrological conditions in shrimp-farming areas;• A water supply and management strategy, incorporating provision for appropriateinfrastructure (e.g., seawater irrigation and pre-treatment systems, wastewater treatment);• Effluent standards and/or protocols for wastewater management; incentives and/or constraintsfor complying with standards or procedures;• A code of practice for siting, design, technology use, and management of individual farms oroperations, and a set of incentives and constraints (economic, market, or regulatory) to ensurecompliance with such codes;• A training, extension, and information dissemination strategy to further promote soundpractices;• A disease prevention and management strategy (see Chapter 3) incorporating provisions formonitoring, diagnosis, and epidemiological analysis; disease testing and certification,especially for any seed or stock moved in or out of the planning zone; training and extensionon health management in shrimp ponds; incentives for diversification (alternate/mixedcropping, polyculture); and codes of practice for the use of chemicals in disease preventionand management;• Provision for farmer representation and participation in the planning process, whether this belimited to sector-level or comprehensive ICM;• Methods of ensuring that the benefits from aquaculture development are shared as widely aspossible. This might include, for example, provision of credit and training, and allocation ofsuitable sites to poorer groups or individuals;• A research program to explore issues such as environmental capacity, environmental impactsof specific aquaculture developments, seed supply, environmentally friendly feeds, improveddesign and technology; and• A monitoring and evaluation process to assess the success and problems of the developmentwith provision for plan modification as appropriate.A detailed discussion and guidelines for the development of coastal aquaculture management plans wasproduced by GESAMP (1999). In addition, guidelines for sector and project EA of coastal aquacultureare provided in SEACAM (1999). Reviews and guidance on the development of integrated coastalmanagement plans may be found in these two publications, as well.Roles and responsibilities for implementing the recommendationsIt is clear from Chapters 3 and 4 that shrimp farm development, left to itself, is unlikely to beundertaken sustainably. It is also clear from previous chapters that the measures and conditions62