The 'real cost of shrimp' is declining and consumers are benefitting, says GAA

In a veiled attempt to "highlight the real costs of shrimp, " a new public relations campaign by Public Citizen attacks shrimp farming with inflammatory claims and emotional verbage.

Like every industry, shrimp farming has had to master developmental challenges. But early reliance on wild shrimp populations and natural estuarine environments has given way to modern systems of animal husbandry based on sustainable practices such as selective breeding of disease-free stocks, productive ponds with ever-declining water usage, and efficient feeds with reduced reliance on fishmeals.

Modern ponds are now seldom located directly on coasts. Mangroves are not "being hacked down to make room for shrimp farms," as claimed by Public Citizen. Farmers respect the value of mangroves and site their facilities accordingly or mitigate mangrove loss.

Since the old practice of "continually pumping sea nad groundwater to keep the ponds cleaner" poses significant biosecurity risks, today's farmers circulate much less water. They also recognize that "staggering amounts of chemicals, as Public Citizen calls them, are ineffectivein maintaining shrimp and pond health and not tolerated by increasingly stringent international food safety regulations.

Producers recognize that the primary disease organisms affective shrimp, crustacean viruses, can not be controlled by antibiotics or chemicals. These pathogens, which do not affect people, are best controlled through the use of certified viral-free shrimp reared in ponds with little or no water exchange.