Shrimp exports and malnutrition of coastal communities – an ugly connect

?India’s shrimp exports are booming. It contributes to 70% of our seafood exports and clocked USD 8 billion in 2023. It is the largest shrimp producer and exporter in the world.

?It’s a great success story of fast growth driven by entrepreneurship while creating many jobs in the process. West Godavari region in Andhra Pradesh leads in the cultivation, but there are significant operations also in Karnataka, Kerala, Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.

?Franking, I had a very limited understanding of the space. Like a majority of Indians, I have a limited understanding of the coastal ecosystem. For most of us, the sea is a tourist spot to visit, except on occasions when fishermen are in the news when there are predictions of inclement weather, or some of them are harassed or arrested in the deep sea by other nations, and occasionally when they protest against a project coming up near the shore and has the potential to local livelihood. Truth be told, the news about water-based livelihoods scarcely captures our imagination like say farmer agitation does. Why so? I suspect the reasons are many – land is much more proximate and real to us than the sea, the understanding that land is limited (and maybe, the ocean is unlimited), lack of personal stake (we can buy land, not sea), the farmers vastly outnumbering the fisherman (and politics listen to more voices), and possibly the lack of mobilization of the fishing community.

?This however changed when I signed up as a volunteer mentor for the Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge (https://www.sustainableinvestingchallenge.org/ ). I was assigned a group of MBA students – two from Cornell and two from Yale, to work with. All four of them are from Indonesia and planned to work on building a financial instrument to aid a model for sustainable shrimp cultivation for their country. Indonesia is the second largest aquaculture producer in the world, accounting for 16% of global production. It is the country’s highest export commodity, employing 60,000 small-scale farmers. However, it has its challenges – affecting the ecology through mangrove deforestation, production capacity and profitability, and challenges faced by small farmers primarily from the export perspective. The team wanted to study these and propose a solution. This got interested me interested in understanding aquaculture in general, and shrimp cultivation and exports in particular. I did some research. And what I found is not encouraging at all. They made me think about whether we often ignore huge long-term challenges when we are lured by the dollar trade.

?Thanks to Prof Amalendu Jyotishi of Azim Premji University (where I am currently doing a diploma program), I did some reading on the shrimp culture in India. And what I found out is scary. 1. It is not in doubt that shrimp cultivation and exports have grown exponentially, earned significant foreign exchange, and created jobs in its areas of operations. However, the local fishing ecosystem has been disrupted by the humungous need for shrimp feed, which is made from fish.

?To get the large volume catch which can be converted to feed through factory operations, the shrimp cultivators have waded into the sea with large trawlers which has made it impossible for the small fishermen to sustain their trade using their small boats. Also, as the sources are drying up, the large trawlers are now engaging in fishing within the territorial boundaries in violation of the law.

?2. Shrimp cultivation badly affects the coastal mangrove forests. This happens through removal of the vegetation, and the use of chemicals and animal feed.

Mangrove helps sustain a very rich ecology, apart from being a barrier in times of cyclones. ????????? The almost uncontrolled growth of shrimp cultivation is deeply affecting the mangrove ecosystem, and it is an irreversible loss.

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Add to this the damage that is being done by the large fishing trawlers being used in the shallow waters near the shores, and the quantum of the damage gets magnified.

?3. As the sea is being skimmed by the large mechanises trawlers, the fish yield in the coastal areas adjacent to the shrimp cultivation has fallen precipitously. As a result, many of the fishermen have moved to the fishing profession as fishing is no longer a sustainable livelihood. Apart from the loss of fishing skills, aggravation of poverty and uncertainty, and the disturbance of the livelihood of the men, it has also affected the women in a significant way. Previously the women of the home would have taken the job of selling the excess catch of the fishing family in the local market. Apart from helping them earn which they could spend with discretion, it allowed the women to play a prominent role in the local economy. This enhanced their social status. With the retail market of the fish drying up, this aspect of women’s emancipation is taking a hit.

?4. The diversion of the fish produce to the shrimp feed has severely affected the protein supplement of the local community. This is not a well-understood outcome, but makes sense when one connects the dots.

?With India faring poorly in the Hunger Index, and stunting of children not showing signs of not coming down, this should be a case of urgent attention, especially given that the fishing community is one of the poorest.

?5. Add to this the accusations that are coming up about the gross violations of labor laws in the shrimp cultivation ecosystem – including non-payment of minimum wages, lack of appropriate facilities, use of antibiotics beyond acceptable limits, and many more. Unfortunately, hardly any of these is in the news, looks like there is no interest of common people about a largely exported business employing mostly the poor, or the media is being managed.

That brings me back to the project I got involved with the Indonesian students. I understood that Indonesia as a country is acutely aware of the potential of this business in the global market, and is keen to explore the opportunity. There was another team from the University of St. Gallen who worked on the same issue – financial interventions in Indonesian shrimp cultivation to ensure sustainable growth.

That brings us to the point – do we want to remain the leader? And if so, we need to quickly clean our acts and build in entry barriers.

As global competition rises to look at the lucrative trade, all these issues like labor, compliance, and adulteration will be a handicap when alternatives are available to the importers. Add to this the increasing environmental consciousness, and greater focus on nutrition and livelihood. If all these add up, the business itself may become unsustainable.

It is the right time for the Indian shrimp export business to get into the act, and build best practices. So that the future is secured. It is important for all of us.

?References: 1. A Twisted Trajectory - Joeri Scholtens ([email protected] ) and Karuppiah Subramanian ([email protected] ), both from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Amalendu Jyotishi ([email protected] ), Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India

Fish for Food or Fish for Feed:

?2. New Populism and Blue Economy Perspective - Amalendu Jyotishi Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India

3. A Whistleblower on the Rot in Indias Shrimp Exports

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxvDx3dKuL