Integrated mangrove aquaculture: The sustainable choice for mangroves and aquaculture?

Background

With an increasing global population, demand for seafood, and fishing at or above the maximum sustainable limit for fish stocks, aquaculture will become a major supplier of seafood. However, many aquaculture systems threaten coastal ecosystems such as mangroves by converting these ecosystems into ponds for shrimp and fish farming. Integrated mangrove aquaculture (IMA) aims to relieve this conversion pressure by combining low-density aquaculture with existing or restored mangroves. While previous studies have focused on the socioeconomic impacts of IMA systems, it is important to aggregate information on ecological impacts and conservation potential of these systems to inform their implementation.

Goals and Methods

The authors conduct a literature review on IMA systems, specifically in the shrimp farming industry. They synthesize information on the ecological benefits of IMA, such as biodiversity, ecosystem function, and ecosystem services, and provide recommendations for future scenarios of continued IMA use and expansion.

Conclusions and Takeaways

The goals and design of IMA create ecosystems with low mangrove density, which limits the biophysical ecosystem functions of the mangroves due to their fragmentation. This impacts the quality of ecosystem services that mangroves provide, decreasing the economic and ecological value when compared to intact mangroves. Government policies and certification standards drive IMA adoption in an attempt to balance the growth of local livelihoods with conserving biodiversity. Intensive, large-scale shrimp ponds have mostly moved away from coastal aquaculture, and smaller-scale shrimp ponds are now the main sources of aquaculture encroachment into intact mangroves, suggesting that future IMA designs target the needs and constraints of local shrimp producers. To de-incentivize future mangrove deforestation, the authors recommend protecting intact mangroves, prioritizing mangrove restoration and IMA in formerly forested areas, emphasizing aquaculture pond sustainability and efficiency, and framing and designing IMA from a local livelihood perspective.