Impact of Shrimp Farming on Mangrove Forest and Other Coastal Wetlands: The Case of Mexico - Aquaculture and the Environment: A Shared Destiny - page 28

loss of wetlands because the ponds themselves and mostly the linear infrastructure
necessary for the operation of farms, such as canals and roads, have a strong impact on the
connectivity of coastal landscapes, fragmenting saltmarsh habitat, modifying the water
flows and sediment supplies in the intertidal zone, and threatening the overall stability of
coastal wetlands (Berlanga-Robles et al., 2011).
In conclusion, the shrimp aquaculture in Mexico is not the main cause of mangrove
deforestation, as has happened with other countries. Even so, the industry is far from
sustainable because almost half of the pond area has resulted in the direct removal of other
natural wetlands. Also, the entire associated infrastructure interrupts local and regional
ecological process by fragmentation of the intertidal zone (Berlanga-Robles et al., 2011).
Finally, even when those farms do not have contact with the mangrove cover, a significant
proportion of them were built near mangrove patches, particularly in Sinaloa and Nayarit,
infringing upon legal rules and threatening the 100 m fringe established by Mexican law. To
move toward real sustainability, some areas must be restored in agreement with laws.
Future developments must require an ecologic and economic reevaluation of coastal
wetlands prior to operation to avoid new impacts and to provide the systems with the
essential connectivity among wetlands and other wetlands, maintaining the water and
sediment flows in the intertidal zone.
6. Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge the National Commission for Fisheries and Aquaculture-Mexico
(CONAPESCA) for provided us his database with the shrimp farms polygons. Landsat
images used in this study were provided by U. S. Geological Survey Resources Observation
and science Center (USGS-EROS).
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