States participating in a UN meeting in New Delhi have apparently welcomed a series of guidelines on responsible shrimp farming that aim to reduce the sector’s environmental impact while enhancing its contribution to poverty alleviation.

The support for the guidelines came during the third meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Sub-Committee on Aquaculture, held from 4-8 September 2006. Although shrimp farming is often criticized for its environmental impacts, millions of small-scale producers in the world’s poorest countries, which produce 99 percent of the world’s farmed shrimp, depend on it for their livelihoods.
The principles were not submitted for formal adoption at the meeting, but there was reportedly general agreement that they should be used as a global point of reference. The principles deal with, inter alia: the siting of farms and their design; the use of resources such as water and feed; and the social impacts of aquaculture on local communities.
Links to further information
FAO Press release, 11 September 2006
The International Principles for Responsible Shrimp Farming