Mangroves connect land and sea. They are vital biodiversity hotspots, home to hundreds of threatened species and support the livelihoods of millions of people around the world by providing food and extreme weather protection. They are also a vast carbon sink that can store up to five times more carbon per acre than rainforests.
Historically, the food system has led to mangrove deforestation across the globe, with shrimp farming driving much of this destruction. However, now countries like Ecuador and Thailand – both of whom rely heavily on farmed shrimp production as part of their economy – are demonstrating that it is possible to disconnect large-scale shrimp production from mangrove deforestation.
Cross-sector collaboration and impact
New data from Clark University’s Center for Geospatial Analytics, based on geospatial monitoring technology, shows that mangrove conversion has now dropped to nearly zero in Thailand and Ecuador, two of the world’s leading shrimp exporters. A major contributing factor to this achievement is coordinated, sector-wide action and collaboration among industry stakeholders.
In Ecuador, the National Chamber of Aquaculture, and the 400 companies it represents from the production end of shrimp value chain, made a collective commitment in 2022 to end mangrove habitat conversion for shrimp farming. This makes Ecuador’s shrimp industry – the largest exporter of farmed shrimp in the world – the first to commit to conversion-free aquaculture at a national level. The National Chamber of Aquaculture is now working with Clark University and Ecuador’s government to map the health of Ecuador’s mangrove forests and verify changes in the shrimp industry’s practices over time.
In Thailand, the Seafood Task Force, another trade association whose members represent some of the largest seafood producers, traders and retailers in the world, has been bringing shrimp supply chain actors together for the past 10 years to address relevant challenges. Seafood Task Force’s members have agreed to a collaborative code of conduct that prohibits habitat conversion and mangrove deforestation. Thai shrimp manufacturing members must verify that their farms and the farms they source from are not converting natural habitat. They have so far seen success. Some members are demonstrating that farmed shrimp, and marine ingredient supply chains are traceable, and they are internally assessing supply chains for deforestation risk using, in part, Clark University’s data.
Looking to the future
Collaboration is proving possible to help transform the farmed shrimp sectors in Thailand and Ecuador. By focusing on partnerships across supply chains and working together to implement less destructive production practices, the industry is contributing to meaningful change. Evidence shows that moving towards deforestation free food commodities is not only possible but also profitable, through emerging leadership, increasing restoration efforts, and creating a clearer path forward for other commodities and regions across the food system.
The food system is complex and rife with challenges, but as industry-wide actions in Thailand and Ecuador indicate, it is transformable, and delinking shrimp production from deforestation and habitat conversion is possible. We hope that others throughout the food sector can continue the trajectory of change.
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