Global study of shrimp fisheries.

Abstract

This report summarizes the results of a global study on the development and status of shrimp fisheries, with a focus on direct and indirect social, economic and environmental impacts. The study reviews the current situation, problems and issues, as well as the solutions found and the trade-offs made. Important topics related to shrimp fisheries are examined in ten countries representative of geographic regions, together with their various significant shrimp fishing conditions. The ten countries selected are: Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America. The results of the country reviews are combined with specialized studies on important topics related to shrimp fisheries to produce the major findings of the overall study. A major conclusion of the study is that there are mechanisms, instruments and models to enable effective mitigation of many of the difficulties associated with sh rimp fishing, taking a precautionary and ecosystem approach to fisheries. The inference is that, with an appropriate implementation capacity, shrimp fishing, including shrimp trawling, is indeed manageable. In many countries, however, weak agencies dealing with fisheries, lack of political will and inadequate legal foundations cause failures in the management of shrimp fisheries. The report makes specific recommendations in a few key areas: the management of small-scale shrimp fisher ies, capacity reduction and access to the fishery.