Having just returned from my second trip to Andhra Pradesh in as many months, India is quickly starting to feel like a second home. This time, I traveled as part of an SFP and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) delegation, but the mission remained the same as my previous visit: to lay the groundwork for landscape-level improvements in aquaculture, using shrimp farming in the region as our case study.
However, this visit was also different in many ways. It was broader in scope, bigger in ambition and representation, deeper in engagement, and ultimately more impactful.
In an upcoming blog, I’ll explore how ASC and SFP are leveraging insights gained during the visit to develop a model for landscape-level improvements in aquaculture. But to achieve this, we first need to understand the landscape in which shrimp farming operates, the people connected to it, and the organizations working to drive positive change within it.
Put simply, we need to know what issues are being addressed, who is driving improvements, and explore opportunities to build upon these improvements.
In this blog, I want to focus on one issue that has always interested me, and hopefully you as well – habitat protection and restoration.
Mangrove loss continues
During our visit, we encountered evidence of mangrove loss to shrimp farming, for example, close to the village of Gogannamattam, East Godavari. Here, despite frequently revised rules and notifications classifying this habitat as environmentally sensitive and protecting it from development, the complexities involved in the assignment of government land have led to the land being converted to shrimp ponds, marginalizing the communities meant to benefit from this assignment.
This land use had been contested under the National Green Tribunal and, in this case, production halted. However, the area remains abandoned and unrestored.
In contrast, we were also introduced to initiatives that are driving improvements and stories that inspire. And in the face of continued habitat loss worldwide and within Andhra Pradesh, there’s a lot of good work being done in the region, work I believe can be built upon.
Habitat protection and restoration in action
Thanks to the support of Seafood Solutions, Dakshin Foundation, and the East Coast Conservation Trust, we were introduced to some of this good work via the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, a thriving mangrove forest that serves as a vital habitat for key indicator species, including the fishing cat, olive Ridley turtles, golden jackals, and smooth-coated otters.
This protected and expanding ecosystem is presided over (or you could say branded) by “Macha the Fishing Cat,” a charismatic mascot raising public awareness about the sanctuary’s rich biodiversity and ecological importance.
Later, we met with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), a not-for-profit trust dedicated to applying science to address rural challenges in agriculture, food, and nutrition. As part of this remit, they focus on reducing habitat fragmentation, protecting and strengthening these habitats via close collaboration with local communities, and they are open to further partnerships to expand their impact.
We also visited Kolleru Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in India, to learn more about land use around this Ramsar Convention site (including shrimp farming), the threat the site faces, the conservation efforts that aim to restore it, and the livelihoods that depend on it.
I believe that there is a potential opportunity to include habitat protection and restoration as a key priority within any landscape approach within the region, by linking these existing improvement initiatives and organizational expertise to where they are needed.
Importantly, this issue and real-life examples of opportunities for the shrimp farming industry to engage in habitat protection and restoration and the ecosystem services they provide (regeneration) link with SFP’s ongoing focus on this issue.
Please check out my other recent blog on the trip to learn more about existing opportunities for improvements for small-scale farmers in the region.
Opportunities for the supply chain: Establishing a responsible sourcing area with assurances at scale
You may be wondering why we are doing this, what exactly is a landscape approach, and why you should be interested. Let me explain:
In short, our goal is to work with supply chains to build local capacity for driving improvements and outcomes in aquaculture within a defined area. Despite operating at a larger geographic scale, this approach is designed to complement existing farm-level certification.
I like to think that our challenges span three key areas: production (industry), the natural environment that sustains it (nature), and the workers and communities connected to it (people).
Additionally, by identifying tools to monitor participation and progress, we aim to explore how to provide assurances that production within a given area is becoming increasingly responsible.
With this framework in place, retailers and other buyers will be able to trust that current sustainability priorities beyond farm-level certification are being addressed – and that emerging issues will be swiftly managed as they arise.
If this approach sounds like the commercial market driving development through a holistic, “ecosystem” approach to shrimp farming, then you’re right. As governments reassess their international aid strategies, this creates an opportunity for the market to engage exporters, farmers, and other local stakeholders in shaping the future of sustainable practices.
Macha the Fishing Cat!
Credit: ABCh Mohan
