Towards sustainable freshwater prawn aquaculture – lessons from shrimp farming, with special reference to India

The annual increase in farmed freshwater prawn production in the world during the decade ending 2001 has been estimated as 29% and that during 1999–2001 as 48%, the production in 2001 being about 300 000 mt (all Macrobrachium species). Between 1999 and 2003 the annual increase in farmed Macrobrachium rosenbergii production in India was about 80%, production reaching 30 450 mt in 2002–2003. This log phase of production followed the rise and fall of shrimp farming in the country. Several shrimp farming ventures collapsed in the 1990s, owing to degraded environment and diseases, abetted by lack of awareness and inadequacy of information on the culture systems and their interactions with other human endeavours. This shrimp farming experience has made the aquafarmer and other stakeholders aware that while aquaculture has a high potential in ensuring food and nutritional security and livelihood, besides profit to the farmer and socio‐economic benefits to local communities, it is likely to slip from sustainable development pathways if adequate understanding, improved management practices, governmental policies and plans for implementation and regulation to ensure sustainability are not in place. The lessons learned from shrimp farming can help in steering the development of sustainable freshwater prawn aquaculture in India and elsewhere.