|
23rd December 2005
updated 27th January 2006
 The earthquake-triggered tsunami on 26 December 2004 killed over 250,000 people and injured 188,000. Stroud Greens have written to the main British supermarkets to see if practices have been changed in the light of the Asian tsunami.
Martin Whiteside, a Green party councillor for Stroud District and freelance aid and development worker, said: "The loss of the mangroves was one of the reasons for the tsunami having had such a devastating effect; the lack of these protective coastal ecosystems meant the tsunami hit the coast much harder and left very much greater devastation in it's wake. It is our appetite for shrimps that is partly responsible for the loss of over 35% of the world's mangroves in the last 20 years."
Martin Whiteside said: "One study found shrimp farming accounted for over a third of the mangrove destruction and there are other well documented serious ecological problems associated with shrimp farming. In the light of these facts we have written to the supermarkets to see if they have reviewed their practices since the tsunami. We have asked a series of questions about the standards used in prawn farming and about the need for Fair trade standards."
Martin Whiteside added: "We must not forget our role in abetting disasters like the tsunami. Shrimp farming is one aspect another is the commercial coastal development, while climate change and rising sea levels also play a part."
Martin Whiteside said: "We need a different approach. Our current economic system and ever more globalisation and unfair world trade is failing us, failing poor communities and failing the Earth. Policies that protect and rebuild all local economies rather than gearing economies to ruthlessly out-compete each other internationally. Policies that take climate change seriously. Policies that lead to restoring mangroves, coral reefs and other natural coastal ecosystems while restricting coastal development. In short policies that put people and planet before profit."
Reconstruction still going on
The force of the Sumatran quake was so powerful that the Earth wobbled on its axis and shifted small islets as much as twenty metres, according to one American expert. Oxfam say that the challenge presented by the disaster is the equivalent of reconstructing the cities of Glasgow and Birmingham completely from scratch, only staggering these lots around all the damaged shorelines of one of the world’s most populous regions.
Philip Booth, a Stroud District Green party spokesperson, said: "People responded with exceptional compassion and generosity to the tsunami: some $12 billion dollars pledged by governments and individuals in 90 different nations for relief and reconstruction. In Gloucestershire our papers were full of stories of people giving money and time to help."
Philip Booth said: "Yet 80% of the 1.8 million made homeless by the tsunami are still in temporary shelters miles away from their flattened communities. Many of the agencies working in the field admit there are lessons to be learnt. It is certainly clear that Africa has been given short shrift in what was perceived to be wholly an Asian tragedy by many. Some have also suggested that the response to the tsunami led to less contributions to the highland Guatemalan mudslides and flash floods and the Kashmir earthquake which left 73,000 dead and made 3.5 million people homeless in October."
Philip Booth added: "Scientists are suggesting that another massive tsunami is likely within our lifetimes and possibly sooner*. It is vital early-warning systems are put in place, but it is also vital we understand our roles in these disasters and how we can considerably lesson their effects. Getting serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions would be a useful start."
* ..... "another tsunami is likely within our lifetimes and possibly sooner." Ohps! As one Green member commented: "........the Time Lord is back."
LATEST INFO: Coral, mangroves good for economy: Coral reefs and mangroves are worth protecting for economic reasons, contributing as much as $1m per sq km to tropical economies. That is the conclusion of a new United Nations report which calculates the value of reefs and mangroves to fishing, tourism and coast protection. Read more at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4646166.stm
Letter for main supermarkets in Gloucestershire:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to you regarding the Asian tsunami that occurred one year ago. As you will be aware the destruction of the mangroves has been sited as one of the reasons for the tsunami having had such a devastating effect; the lack of these protective coastal ecosystems meant the tsunami hit the coast much harder and left very much greater devastation in it's wake.
During the 1980s and 1990s, about 35% of the world's mangrove forests vanished. Shrimp farming was a major cause of this - one study found such farming accounted for over a third of the mangrove destruction (i). The very serious ecological problems associated with shrimp farming are also well documented (ii). In the light of these facts we are asking if you have been able to review your practices. In particular I would therefore welcome your answers to the following:
1. Where are your prawns sourced from? And are they farmed or wild?
2. What standards are used for your prawns?
- What limits do you put on the use of chemicals like antibiotics, such as chloramphenicol (which is banned in the U.S)?
- What current inspection programs are there for imported shrimp and are these sufficient?
3. Have you considered investing in Fair Trade and/or organic prawns? There is evidence from many countries like Burma, Bangladesh and Vietnam that there are considerable problems like the denial of land rights and in some countries NGOs have criticized that most of the profits from shrimp farming go to large conglomerates instead of the local population. At present organic shrimps production is still very small. I understand the Global Aquaculture Alliance has in the last few years been developing standards which try to fulfil some of the principles (but not all) followed by the organic standard. However in the light of the tsunami and other serious problems with shrimp farming would you not agree that you should be moving to all prawns meeting a fair trade standard?
4. I would also be interested if you have any information about the amount of fossil fuel which is needed by the marine shrimp farms as most of the farms depend on pumped sea water? And do all the farms you use have the improved waste water treatment facilities (iii)?
5. Do any of your prawns come from places where mangroves have been destroyed (iv)? Do you support projects like planting new mangrove areas that will lesson the impact from future tsunamis?
I will also be writing to the other main supermarkets to see what policies they have in place to tackle this important issue. I look forward to hearing from you,
Martin Whiteside
Stroud District Green party
Notes:
(i) VBY01: Valiela, I.; Bowen, J. L.; York, J. K.: Mangrove forests: One of the world's threatened major tropical environments. Bioscience 51(10), pp. 807 – 815, 2001.
Other causes of mangrove destruction are population pressure, logging, pollution from other industries, or conversion to other uses such as salt pans.
(ii) Intensive farms other problems include their nutrient-rich effluents being typically discharged into the environment, seriously upsetting the ecological balance. Industrial shrimp feeds disintegrate quickly, only 30% are actually eaten by the shrimps, the rest is wasted. These waste waters contain significant amounts of chemical fertilizers, pesticides (used to disinfect ponds between uses), and antibiotics that cause severe pollution of the environment. Furthermore, releasing antibiotics in such ways injects them into the food chain and increases the risks of organisms becoming resistant against them.
Prolonged use of a pond leads to an incremental build-up of a toxic sludge at the pond's bottom from waste products and excrements. Flushing a pond never completely removes this sludge, and eventually, the pond is abandoned, leaving behind a wasteland with the soil made unusable for any other purposes due to the high levels of salinity, acidity, and toxic chemicals. A typical pond in an extensive farm can be used only a few years. An Indian study estimated the time to rehabilitate such lands to about 30 years. Thailand has banned inland shrimp farms since 1999 because they caused too much destruction of agricultural lands due to salination. A Thai study estimated that 60% of the shrimp farming area in Thailand was abandoned in the years 1989 – 1996.
The global nature of the shrimp farming business and in particular the shipment of broodstock and hatchery products throughout the world have not only introduced various shrimp species as exotic species, but also distributed the diseases the shrimp may carry world-wide.
(iii) Modern shrimp farms routinely have effluent treatment ponds where sediments are allowed to settle at the bottom and other residuals are filtered. As such improvements are costly, the World Bank et al. programme also recommends low-intensity polyculture farming for some areas.
(iv) The industry has been slowly changing since about 1999. It has adopted the "best management practices" developed by e.g. the World Bank et al. programme and instituted educational programmes to promote them. Due to the mangrove protection laws enacted in many countries, new farms are usually of the (semi-)intensive kind, which are best constructed outside of mangrove areas anyway. There is a trend to create even more tightly controlled environments in these farms with the hope to achieve better disease prevention. Since it has been discovered that mangrove soils are effective in filtering waste waters and tolerate high nitrate levels, the industry has also developed an interest in mangrove reforestation, although its contributions in that area are still minor. |
Home 
News 
Green New Deal Report 