Shrimp farming

However, the industry has raised concerns about environmental damage to mangrove ecosystems, reliance on slave labor, and animal welfare issues.

[1] Commercial marine shrimp farming began in the 1970s, and production grew steeply, particularly to match the market demands of the United States, Japan, and Western Europe.

These industrial monocultures used to be very susceptible to diseases, which caused several regional wipe-outs of farm shrimp populations in past decades.

Increasing ecological problems, repeated disease outbreaks, and pressure and criticism from NGOs, consumer countries and even producers themselves, led to changes in the industry in the late 1990s and generally stronger regulation by governments.

In 1999, a program aimed at developing and promoting more sustainable farming practices was initiated, including governmental bodies, industry representatives, and environmental organizations.