Economic incentives drive the conversion of agriculture to aquaculture in the Indian Sundarbans: Livelihood and environmental implications of different aquaculture types.

Autor: Giri S; School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, 188, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India. sandip1989ju@gmail.com., Daw TM; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden., Hazra S; School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, 188, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India., Troell M; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden.; Beijer Institute, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden., Samanta S; School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, 188, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India., Basu O; School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, 188, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India., Marcinko CLJ; School of Engineering, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK., Chanda A; School of Oceanographic Studies, Jadavpur University, 188, Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700032, India.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Ambio [Ambio] 2022 Sep; Vol. 51 (9), pp. 1963-1977. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Mar 18.
DOI: 10.1007/s13280-022-01720-4
Abstrakt: Expansion of aquaculture in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) is irreversibly replacing agricultural land and the drivers of this change are disputed. Based on in-depth interviews with 67 aquaculture farmers, this paper characterizes major aquaculture types in the SBR, their impacts, and identifies drivers of conversion from agricultural land. Aquaculture types included traditional, improved-traditional, modified-extensive, and semi-intensive systems. Extensive capture of wild shrimp larvae is environmentally harmful but constitutes an important livelihood. Semi-intensive aquaculture of exotic shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) has much higher unit-area profitability than other types but involves greater financial risk. Profitability is the main driver for the transition from agriculture, but environmental factors such as lowered crop yields and cyclone impacts also contributed. Many conversions from agriculture to aquaculture are illegal according to the stakeholders. Existing legislation, if enforced, could halt the loss of agriculture, while the promotion of improved-traditional aquaculture could reduce the demand for wild seed.
(© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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