Journal of Aquaculture Research & Development

Abstract

Technical and Environmental Analysis of Shrimp Farming in the Coreau River Estuary, Ceara State, Brazil

Ítalo Régis Castelo Branco Rocha, Tadeu Dote Sá, Rommel Rocha de Sousa, Gutemberg Costa de Lima, José Renato de Oliveira César and Francisco Hiran Farias Costa

Compared with other countries, the Brazilian shrimp aquaculture had a moderate development occupying an area of less than 20,000 hectares. Despite the importance of shrimp farming in rural economy developing, many critics unproven technical and/or scientific have been made due to possible environmental and social impacts of this industry. The objective of this study was to evaluate the technical, social and environmental aspects of shrimp farming in the Coreaú river estuary, Ceará, Brazil. The focus was on the operating characteristics of shrimp farms. Results indicate that no shrimp farm was constructed on mangrove areas and no significant environmental impacts regarding water pollution were detected. However, it is interesting to identify technologically and economically feasible options for to resolve or mitigate the negative environmental impact of a future expansion of shrimp farms in this region.