Coastal Aquaculture in India: Poverty, Environment & Rural Livelihood

The book, after depicting the global and all-India picture on aquaculture, examines the diverse impacts of coastal aquaculture in Orissa where shrimp farming is a leading economic activity. It observes that there has been shift in occupation from rice cultivation and capture fishing to shrimp aquaculture. Shrimp farming has played an important role in employment generation and a rise in per capita income; and has thus led to decrease in dependency on agriculture and artisan fisheries for food and income. On the other hand, it has led to environmental degradation. It has not also brought any significant improvement in community-scale human development parameters. The participation and role of women in shrimp farming is insignificant. The institutional arrangements that have been set up by the government to regulate the shrimp farming are not stringently followed. Almost all the activities of shrimp farming are in private sector. The government’s role is only promotional. The study believes that if suitable measures (such as infrastructure development, laboratories for various tests, research on shrimp diseases, effective enforcement of institutional regulations, etc.) are taken to overcome the problems faced by the local farmers, shrimp farming may turn out to be a perennial source of livelihood.