Shrimp farming

Once the mangroves are ripped out, the coast is rendered unstable, triggering erosion, harming coral reefs and seagrass beds, and eliminating habitat for creatures from the humble molluscs up the chain of life to the meek manatee.

While there are currently no precise figures on how great the loss of mangrove forests and other coastal wetlands is due to shrimp farms, estimates are frightening, with as high as 38 percent of mangrove forests being lost to shrimp farming.

As the wetlands vanish, fish catches decline and ecosystems are knocked out of balance. Shrimp farms are often abandoned after only three to five years, leaving the once-fertile coastal ecosystem a wasteland. The proprietors then move on to destroy new territory.

The ecological damage doesn't end with the mangrove loss. To grow as many shrimp as possible and maintain overcrowded populations, large amounts of artificial feed and chemical additives, including chlorine, are added to this destructive cocktail. Malathion, parathion, paraquat and other virulent pesticides are also sprayed on the pools.

Along with the chemicals come several kinds of antibiotics, used heavily to prevent shrimp disease. This resulting virulent soup is commonly dumped onto the surrounding land or into local waterways, where it harms people and other life.

Farming shrimp causes gigantic problems, even beyond the environmental harm, it can often decimate the coastal ecology that communities depend upon.