Socio-economic and environmental impacts of shrimp farming in the south-western coastal region of Bangladesh
Sebak Kumar Saha 1, 2
1 School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
2 Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
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ABSTRACT: Despite contributing to the export earnings, saline-water bagda shrimp farming has created serious socio-economic and environmental problems in the south-western coastal region of Bangladesh. Bagda shrimp farming has adversely affected the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers and landless people. It has also destroyed the mangroves and increased salinity problems and thus has negatively affected soil, water, agriculture, fishery, the ecosystem, and the livelihoods of communities in the south-western coastal region of Bangladesh. Although bagda shrimp farming under the present situation benefits a small group of people, the benefit to society is minimal, or even negative, as a small group of people appropriate the profits at a cost to the livelihoods of the majority and to the environment. Thus, any economic analysis of bagda shrimp farming needs to take into account its negative impacts on the livelihoods of small and marginal farmers and landless people, and on the environment. The long-term benefits of bagda shrimp farming can only be achieved through the development of environmentally sustainable shrimp farming. Promoting bagda shrimp farming as a strategy for poverty alleviation and economic development necessitates fundamental changes in its management, and regulation to address serious adverse socio-economic and environmental impacts associated with it. This will only be possible when the issues of social equity and environmental sustainability become central to the management of bagda shrimp farming. Otherwise, bagda shrimp farming does not have a future role to play in poverty alleviation or the economic development of Bangladesh.
Key words: saline-water bagda shrimp, shrimp farming, socio-economic impact, environmental impact, Bangladesh
Subject areas: Shrimp farming, Environmental degradation, Poverty alleviation, Bangladesh.
Recommended citation: Saha, S.K., 2017. Socio-economic and environmental impacts of shrimp farming in the south-wastern coastal region of Bangladesh. International Journal of Research on Land-use Sustainability, 3(1): 128-137.
May 8, 2017
June 30, 2017
Dr. Sharif A. Mukul
Independent University, Bangladesh