Vol. 4, Issue 3, Part E (2018)

Abstract
To maintain the overcrowded shrimp population in intensive production systems, and attain higher production efficiency, copious amounts of artificial feed, pesticides, chemical additives and antibiotics must be continuously added. These compounds, together with excrement from the shrimp, make the wastewater from the ponds poisonous. The polluted wastewater is generally pumped back into the surrounding environment in order to save costs, poisoning coastal waterways and the sea, fresh groundwater supplies, native flora and fauna, and adjacent communities. In addition shrimp pond effluents are often high in organic matter, with a resulting high biological oxygen demand that can cause oxygen depletion in receiving waters. The combination of surplus organic matter and increased salinity from pond effluents can cause severe problems, especially for fish populations and other sea life that inhabitant the receiving waterways. Saltwater in the ponds also seeps into the local groundwater and the increased salinity damages drinking water supplies and surrounding agriculture land, making alternative cropping (such as rice) nearly impossible. As with other types of farming, shrimp farming frequently uses exotic species and varieties that are not indigenous to the local area. What effects the introduction of new species will have on the local ecosystem is not yet known. Even if an exotic species of shrimp can be contained in the ponds to which they were introduced, and even though it may appear to be innocuous, there is always the danger of diseases and parasites spreading to local shrimp species.