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Ocean & Coastal Management 50 (2007) 538550 www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman

Shrimp farming in China: Operating characteristics, environmental impact and perspectives

Xie Biao, Yu Kaijin
Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, State Environmental Protection Administration, 8 Jiangwangmiao Street, Nanjing 210042, P.R. China Available online 12 March 2007

Abstract China has been one of the worlds largest shrimp producers since 1988. Although the industry suffered disease outbreaks and environmental problems, shrimp farming has recently seen a rapid expansion in China. This study provides some necessary background to shrimp aquaculture in China. It focuses briey on the operating characteristics of shrimp aquaculture. Emphasis is placed on the shrimp farming impact on the environment. The promising strategy for reductions in nutrient release from shrimp aquaculture is analyzed. The effective management measures to resolve or mitigate the adverse environmental impact of shrimp farming development have now become necessary and urgent. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Shrimp farming has undergone extraordinary expansion since 1970 in the world (Fig. 1). Global production of shrimp farming increased from less than 9000 metric tons in 1970 to about 1 million metric tons in 2000, which is equivalent to about one-third of total world shrimp supply [1]. Asia plays a leading role in shrimp farming, accounting for almost 80% of world shrimp culture production [2]. Thailand is the leading producer, followed by China, Indonesia and Ecuador. A number of factors have led to the growth of shrimp farming. Growing demand for shrimp mainly from North America, Europe and Japan, coupled with a leveling-off of the production from capture sheries, gave rise to high market prices in the 1980s [3]. Simultaneously, major improvements have been made
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 25 85287056; fax: +86 25 85420606.

E-mail address: biaox@hotmail.com (X. Biao). 0964-5691/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2007.02.006

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1200000 World 1000000 China Thailand Taiwan province of China Indonesia Ecuduer

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Fig. 1. Cultured brackish water shrimp production in Thailand, China, Indonesia, Taiwan province of China, Ecuador and globally from 1970 to 2000.

within the last 20 years, including the emergence of new production technologies and production of pellet feeds with high protein levels, which enabled high levels of protability and provided incentives for investment in shrimp aquaculture. However, due to poor planning and management and a lack of appropriate regulations, the rapid development of intensive shrimp farming has led to a number of technical, environmental, economic and social problems [410]. While technology exists to reduce nutrient contamination on and from shrimp ponds, such as complete replacement of sh meal and sh oil in shrimp feeds, and polyculture with shellsh, craysh and herbivores, these technologies are seldom employed [10]. Intensive shrimp farming began during the 1980s in Taiwan province of China. Csavas [11] analyzed the close relationship between hatchery production of post-larvae in Taiwan province of China and Ecuador and the growth of the shrimp farming industry in these regions. Stocking densities of post-larvae increased from a few individuals/m2 to 4050 individuals/m2 [11]. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several Asian regions suffered drastic collapses due to deteriorating water quality and the emergence of numerous pathogens from the over-crowding within and among ponds [5,9]. Examples can be found in Taiwan province of China in 1987, Ecuador in 1992 and Mainland China in 1993 where production of shrimp farming was reduced from 220,000 metric tons in 1991 to 88,000 metric tons in 1993 (Fig. 1). Despite these problems, the industry has spread in much the same form to most of south-east Asia (e.g. Thailand and Indonesia) and parts of Latin America and Africa. Thailand managed to contain a severe crisis through curbing sludge discharge into the environment, thanks to stricter farm management and reliable new rearing techniques [12].

2000

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The shrimp farming industry has often been promoted in terms of the possibility of increasing rural employment and generating foreign exchange, especially in developing countries [13,14]. From 1987 to 1992, China was the worlds leading producer. Since 1993, Thailand has been the largest shrimp producer in the world (Fig. 1). During this period, the Chinese yields have also been increasing. The impact caused by aquacultural activities on the environment is a consequence of the cumulative effect of many factors and activities that act jointly. Even though there are many studies concerning the evaluation of environmental impact caused by shrimp aquaculture, most refer to countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka and Mexico, etc., e.g. [5,1517]. China, being ranked as one of the leading shrimp producers, has no welldocumented report regarding the effect of shrimp aquaculture on its coastal environments. Most of the studies concerning this matter are related to pond water quality changes within a limited number of shrimp farms. The purpose of this study is to analyze shrimp aquaculture from a national perspective and provide some necessary background to shrimp aquaculture in China. It focuses briey on the operating characteristics of shrimp aquaculture. Emphasis is placed on the shrimp farming impacts on the environment. The promising strategy for reductions in nutrient release from shrimp aquaculture is analyzed. 2. Development history of shrimp farming in China With a great variety of climates, morphological features, vegetation and fauna, China possesses an extensive coastline, measuring approximately 18,400 km. If 6500 islands and islets are included, the coastline reaches 32,000 km. Beach and shallow sea within 10 m fathom line along the seashore cover 10 million ha (Taiwan province not included), among which more than 1.3 million ha can be used for mariculture [18]. Seacoast development in China began in early 20th century. In the period governed by Qing Dynasty, seacoast was a remote and deserted area. At that time, government controlled aquaculture and salt production. Except some estuary zones, seacoast was no mans lands. Large-scale development started in the late 1970s due to reform and the policy of opening to the outside world. The farming of sh in ponds is an ancient practice. It was presumably developed by early farmers as one of many primary production systems to stabilize food supplies. The earliest known references to pond sh culture are from China, some 4000 years ago, and from Mesopotamia, about 3500 years ago [19]. In the late 1970, extensive shrimp farming began along the eastern coast in China with low yields. Shrimps were harvested for both domestic consumption and to sell on the local market. With the establishment of research group organized by State Aquaculture Administration in 1978, technology developed in China allowed the intensication of shrimp farming. This involves very high stocking densities of shrimp that are all supplied by hatcheries, the use of processed feed, frequent water exchange and the mechanization of the farm (aerators, water pumps and feeding). During the period of 19801988, shrimp production increased at an average rate of 75%/yr. In 1980, Shrimp farms covered some 9342 ha, and produced about 2549 metric tons. In 1988, they covered 162,960 ha and produced about 200,000 metric tons. This development made China the worlds largest shrimp producer. Production is 100% dominated by Penaeus orientalis [20]. At its peak, China accounted for around 35% of the global cultured shrimp production [1]. In 1987, shrimp farming industry of Taiwan province collapsed (Fig. 1) as a

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result of disease, reduced resistance from over-use of antibiotics, over-stocking, incorrectly processed food and the over-exploitation of groundwater [9]. Like Taiwan province, China Mainland shrimp farming industry suffered from diseases in 1990 and 1993, but Chinas brackish water shrimp culture is showing evidence of recovery and between 1994 and 2000 output increased at 23%/yr from a low of 64,000 metric tons to reach 218,000 in 2000. China faced a new reality in 1993. Its production of farm-raised shrimp was up to about 200,000 metric tons per year during 19881992. Then in 1993 and 1994, it crashed to about 50,000 metric tons. A virus appears to have been the culprit, but industrial and domestic pollution around the Gulf of Bohai Sea probably played a role. In addition, Chinas ponds are in low-lying areas, making it difcult to clean up bottoms between harvests. The Chinese practice of feeding live mollusks, insects, and agricultural and shery wastes to the shrimp probably encouraged the spread of killer viruses. Increased demand for shrimp on the international market, the potential returns and improved technology have contributed to the growth of the industry. Rice or salt farmers could increase their earnings up to 20-fold by converting their elds to shrimp ponds. Among four shrimp producers in the world, China is the leading exporter from 1984 to 1999, followed by Thailand, Indonesia and Ecuador [1]. 3. Operating characteristics There are about 100 penaeid shrimp species in Chinas coastal waters, of which a dozen of Penaeus spp. and Metapenaeus spp. have commercial value [21]. Main shrimp types cultured in China are Penaeus chinensis, P. monodon, P. japonicus, P. merguinsis, P. penicillatus, Metapenaeus ensis and P. vannamei, which were introduced from outside of China recently. Chinese shrimp farms are distributed along almost 18,000 km of coastline from Hainan Province in the tropics to Liaoning Province in the temperate zone. Farmers usually culture two crops of shrimp per year in southern China, while to the north of Yangzi River farmers can harvest only one crop. More than 80% of shrimp farms use low-intensity culture technology. Air blowers or paddlewheel aerators are rare [22]. China possess about 14,000 shrimp farms, of which 5% belong to the intensive type, with 54.0 individuals/m2, an average acreage of 6.9 ha, a feed conversion rate of 2.1 and a yield of 2808 kg/ha. The majority, i.e. 85%, of farms, are half intensively managed with 19.7 individuals/m2, an average acreage of 24.9 ha, a feed conversion rate of 2.1 and a yield of 848 kg/ha. About 10% of farms are extensively managed with 7.9 individuals per m2, an average acreage of 39.5 ha, a feed conversion rate of 2.1 and a yield of 421 kg/ha/year [23]. The shrimp costs 4.90 US dollar per kg in China if intensively managed, 2.27 US dollar, if half intensively managed, and 1.62 US dollar if in extensive farms. Shrimp farms, most established in middle and late 1980s, have ponds of simple structure with acreage of 50 mu or even over 100 mu (15 mu 1 ha). The water is shallow, and the depth of most ponds does not exceed 1.5 m. Most ponds were not equipped with oxygen machines and water quality was improved just by water exchange. The main features and existing problems are as follows. 3.1. Seedstock Seedstock rely on nature to a certain degree and are not produced steadily. Larvae which are not selected systematically by manpower, are not good enough in disease resistance,

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growth speed and quality. Larvae needed in Chinese farms are most produced on larvae-culturing factories wholly articially managed. Breeding shrimps do not systematically endure articial selection or inheritable improvement. Heat breeding and use of antibiotic are very common. 3.2. Disease Diseases are the most outstanding issue, which impact the shrimp industry. In particular, since 1993, diseases have caused a direct loss of as much as tens of billions of RMB (1 USDE8 RMB), and affected export earning in the hard currency, and the living standard of farmers, with a negative impact on other associated industries. They are harmful to shrimps in all the growing stages from breeding, mature and wintering. Governments of all levels and the administrator pay much attention to this problem. Although researches are undertaken, no effective resolution has been found thus far. According to incomplete statistics, 1520% of shrimp farming acreage suffers from serious diseases and have a loss of over 1 million ton of shrimps and 17 billion RMB during 19942000. 3.3. Feed Most of the indigenous shrimp feed does not contain all the needed nutrients for the farming purpose. Many kinds of local feed are instable in water and thus take a high feed conversion ratio. Although the feed of some brands have good quality, they are expensive. Many farmers prefer homemade feed. 3.4. Farming environment Suitable farming environment is often found in seashore areas. In many places, farming environment worsens due to many reasons. A great deal of industrial wastes and domestic sewage untreated are directly discharged into coastal waters. As estimated, the big cities and industrial zones in the coastal areas dispose billions of tons of wastes and sewage, causing gradual worsening of the offshore waters and endangering marine farming. Instances of shrimp mortality in large areas caused by bad water quality are not rare. Another important element is organic contamination caused by the shrimp farming itself. Many farms use articial feed of bad quality by the wrong ways, which does not reach the required stability in the water. Consequently, a large amount of feeds escape from the intake by shrimps, and become the organic contaminants harmful to shrimps. Ponds often use antibiotics, disinfectors and water conditioners, which have an adverse effect on the aquatic environment. Unreasonable design of ponds is another factor for the poor water quality. For example, the shrimp ponds in some bays are too intensively managed, generating farming sewage beyond their self-cleansing capacity, if any. Eutrophication of farming and adjacent waters and vast propagation of poisonous alga and pathogenic microorganisms also endanger the survival and development of shrimp industry. 3.5. Governmental management The government does not manage shrimp farming strictly. Farming sewage discharge in the offshore waters is not treated and thus affects the ecosystem. Ponds in many places are

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not appropriately designed with such a high intensity that approaches or goes beyond the limit of local ecosystem. Fish drugs are often misused or overused due to poor management. 3.6. Farmers knowledge Rapid development of shrimp farming industry draws investments from many other industries. However, the education background and technical skills of shrimp farmers may not always meet the demands. Lacking needed technology, poor understanding of the water quality and feeding methods, and poor management render the farmers helpless in case of accidents. 4. Environmental impact of shrimp farming Rapid development of shrimp farming brings a series of environmental, human health and safety problems, as well as considerable prot and interests, thus causing concern about its sustainability. Pan [24] believes that development of shrimp industry be integrated with the accommodation of the ecosystem in view of shrimp industry history [24]. About 4 billion tons of industrial waste water, 200,000 tons of sewage and 43 billion tons of waste water from shrimp farming and shrimp breeding system spill into the coastal waters in China every year. The Bohai Bay has reached a critical point beyond which it could become a dead sea due to pollution [25]. A large number of literature reported the bad effect on the environment brought by shrimp farming, e.g. [2630], such as pollution of water body, degradation of the useful resources and biodiversity decline, etc. [3,9,29]. Too much nutrient salt and organic matter in the shrimp producing system leads to the eutrophication and worsening of the environment [31]. In the traditional mode of production, changing the water in order to maintain the water quality will result in the draining of sh meal, feed and fertilizer, which worsen the marine water quality [32]. In addition, many drugs (antibiotic, disinfectors, etc.) used in the pools to control diseases, may be taken up by and accumulate in the polyculture animals after resolving in the water, thus affecting the seafood safety. 4.1. Organic matter Poor quality feed is the main pollution source of the farming and its adjacent waters, although the soluble organic matter is the important element of water quality of the environment [33]. Feed reacts to many elements (pH, temperature, osmotic pressure, wave strike and chemical reaction) by resolving, swelling, breaking, pulverization and desquamation, etc. Feed additives dissolve 12.413.2% in 5 min and 17.023.9% in 120 min and soluble matter dissolves rapidly and completely [34]. As reported, intensive shrimp ponds have the feed conversion ratio of about 2 and the feed utilization rate of about 10% [35]. Low-feed utilization rate means the great loss of organic matter that is drained into the sea. The amount per year is so high that the sea cannot clean it by itself and seawater pollution accidents often occur. Total organic carbon (TOC) of the sediments in ponds accumulates over time, and has a positive linear relation with the pond age [36]. Ma et al. [37] analyzed the drainage ux of the main pollutants in Laizhouwan Bay and tested the chemical oxygen demand (COD) density of the water into and out of the farming

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areas in the top of Laizhouwan Bay. It was roughly estimated that the COD in the drainage water increased by 1173.4 ton/yr after the shrimp diseases broke out [37]. 4.2. The drainage of nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants Nutrient salts containing inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus are essential elements in the nutrient recycling in the marine farming system. The amount of nutrient salts containing nitrogen and phosphorus decide the transfer of energy in the marine farming system and the seawater accelerates the speed of the nutrient recycling. Meanwhile, as the important index of the pollution of the marine farming, nutrient salts containing nitrogen and phosphorus are the big factor of the farming environment [38]. It is found that higher the density of the nutrient salts containing nitrogen and phosphorus is, the fewer the kinds of the marine diatom are [39]. In the early stage of the shrimp production, a great deal of fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and some trace elements is put into the water to improve the growth of the algae that provides the shrimp with sufcient feed. In the middle and the late stage of the production, a great deal of feed remains in the water; some becomes suspended solid pellets; and some releases much of the nitrogen and phosphorus upon dissolution. Some scientists such as Burford et al. [40] found that feed and sh meal remaining in the water can signicantly increase the amount of the soluble organic nitrogen, and nitrogen and phosphorus are released to the water by the shrimp excrements [40]. Yuan et al. [36] led a research of the relation between the pond age and the total nitrogen in the deposit by studying 80 shrimp ponds in counties such as Shangma and Liuting in Chengyang District, Qingdao city and Shandong Province. The results showed that the total nitrogen in the deposit was accumulated year by year. In the all investigated areas, the total nitrogen showed positive linear relation with pond age with correlation coefcient of 0.46030.8574 (Po0.05) [36]. Traditional shrimp production mainly relies on the exchanging of pond water and discharging nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich efuents into the surrounding waters, causing the degradation of water quality, alteration of phytoplankton community structure and eutrophication. Two red tides caused by Chattonella marina occurred alongshore the north of the Yellow Sea in the mid-August of both 1993 and 1995, mainly due to the discharges into the marine environment of nutrient rich efuents. As reported by Feng in 1996, in one Bohai Sea area where large-scale shrimp farming and production took place, the COD level is over 200 times higher, and active phosphorous is 900 times higher than those of the surround environment. The levels of COD, active phosphorus, and ammonium tested at the same area are 3.7, 7.8 and 2.4 times higher in comparison with those of pre-shrimp production time [41], indicating a signicant imbalance in the material recycle of the adjacent environment. If the annual feed consumption efciency is 1520% and the feed conversion ratio is 2, China would produce 200,000 tons of the shrimp and drains 320,000340,000 tons of the farming efuents into the sea. In September 1994, Zheng et al. [42] tested the vibrio parahaemolyticus amount in the pelagic sea, the reservoir and the ponds in Fengxian District, Shanghai and discovered that only in July and September the vibrio parahaemolyticus in the pelagic sea and the reservoir was a little lower than that in the shrimp pond and in other months no differences were shown. The polluted seawater continuously exchanged became the sources of the pollution and diseases [42].

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Take Fujian province as an example. In 1998, the shrimp production discharged as much as 3.73 108 tons of the shrimp sewage, including 5589 tons of COD, 658 tons of nitrogen and 307 tons of phosphorus. So much sewage was drained into the surrounding waters during the production period, which will certainly accelerate the pollution and eutrophication, result in the red tides, and have a negative effect on the shrimp production. In 2002, Du et al. reported that red tides occurring in large areas offshore Guangdong and in Bohai Sea caused a great loss in the aquaculture industry in 1998 and 1999. From 1997 to 1999, the red tides appeared in the west sea area near Xiamen and Tonganwan Bay [43]. As reported by Wang et al. [44] in 1995, healthy and sustainable shrimp production industry can only ourish if marine ecosystem was kept in good balance; rational development plans were designed; environmental friendly farming models were chosen; and practical farming measures was implemented, in accordance with specic local conditions. This will minimize the stress on the environment, prevent and abate pollution of the farming water. In short, shrimp farming scale must be predicated on no harm to the adjoining environment. 4.3. Use of the antibiotics and other drugs Overuse of the antibiotics results in too much antibiotics residues in the aquaculture products, which leads to not only the decrease in the immunity of the aquaculture products, but also the decrease in the disease resistance of consumers and the increase in the possibility of infecting the disease [45]. The European Union prohibited the import of shrimps from the mainland of China, Vietnam and Indonesia after nding the prohibited chloramphenical remained in the imported shrimps. Bleaching powder itself has no problem of food safety, but in the oxidation of the organic substance the hypochlorite ion and other chloric preparations produce the trihalomethanes (THMs) and other hydrochloric ether which have the potential carcinogenesis [46]. Overuse of lime results in the growing and overabundance of cyanophytes and the restraining of propagation of diatom. Aquaculture products can accumulate the heavy metals from the pesticides, algaecides and some organic organisms used in the farming through biologic accumulation, which may lead to food safety problem. 5. Reductions in nutrient release from shrimp aquaculture To reduce nutrient release from shrimp aquaculture, essentially two different promising strategies can be taken. One less high-yielding, ecological (or organic) approach and one using the latest developments in biotechnology aiming at highest possible productivity and economic output (Table 1). A fundamental principle in ecological aquaculture production is to minimize environmental impact as much as possible while developing a valuable and sustainable aquatic ecosystem. The ecological approach implies that the cultivation is done at lower intensity and that efforts to farm shrimp are more in tune with ecosystem processes and functions, e.g. by creating large buffer zones that reserve the discharged waster water for treatment and provide ecological services, and adapt the farming to the local carrying capacity. The use of integrated farming of shrimp (e.g. polyculture of bivalve mollusks, sh and shrimp), where resources and wastes are recirculated within the farm instead of depleting or overloading the environment; the use of shrimp pond water to feed

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546 X. Biao, Y. Kaijin / Ocean & Coastal Management 50 (2007) 538550 Table 1 Alternative approaches to reduce nutrient release from shrimp aquaculture Ecological (organic) solution (1) Strict limitation of stocking density (2) Create large buffer zones (3) Intensive monitoring of environmental impact, protection of surrounding ecosystems and integration of natural plant communities in farm management (4) Integrate systems for efuent treatment and resource management (5) Strict criteria for shmeal sources; in general, decreased protein shmeal content of diets (6) Preferences for natural medicines (7) Keep farming within carrying capacity of local environment Technological approach (1) Isolate farm from the environment (2) Treat and recirculate pond water (3) Sterilize pond environment

(4) Use of antibiotics and medicines; treat the residues in the pond water (5) Zero water discharge system

particularly oysters with the efuent stream has been positively evaluated in various studies [47,48], conrming that there is considerable potential for the culture of shrimp and bivalve mollusks in shrimp ponds. It must, however, be emphasized that these low-intensity systems require much larger pond areas for a given volume of production compared to intensive systems. The reduction of nutrients inputs has been shown to be an effective strategy for lowering the load of nitrogen and phosphorus released into the environment [49]; the research has focused on improving the manufacture of a feed and fertilizer as low in nutrient content as possible without impairing the growth of cultivated shrimp. This will reduce the impacts on adjacent coastal waters, a positive aspect for the same shrimp industry. In the context of ecological shrimp aquaculture, very limited efforts have been made; the use of organic fertilizer and to optimize the supplied feed have been recommended and evaluated in semiintensive ponds. However, this ecological or organic farming method, although constituting a relevant principle to reduce the excess of supplied feed and consequently decrease the amount nutrient released from shrimp operations, requires more research to demonstrate its usefulness currently. The technological alternative tends to drive development toward completely articial super-intensive systems, which are isolated from the environment and implement zero discharge mechanism. It also involves treatment and recirculation of pond wastes, sterilization of pond environment with antibiotics, ozone, chlorine, formaldehyde, etc. This alternative aims at high output but demands very high level of management. 6. Perspectives The environment affects aquaculture just as aquaculture impacts on the environment. Coastal waters in China are increasingly contaminated by several substances derived from various sources, which may be classied into: (1) direct sources, resulting from activities within the vicinity of the coastal waters, including sewage efuent, industrial discharges, run-off from agricultural activity and aquaculture pond wastewaters, etc. organic matter and nutrients are involved with most of these activities, heavy metals with mining and some fertilizers and fungicides, organophosphorus and organochlorine pesticides are related to the intensive agriculture, and oil spills are frequently associated with shipping

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activities in the port areas. (2) Non-point sources, that include contaminants from various land-based activities, located relatively far from the coastal plain and involve mainly nutrients and pesticides from agriculture and several atmospheric contaminants [50]. The impacts of marine pollution on aquaculture are difcult to detect unless contamination caused by large-scale oil spills or major discharges of sewage efuent are obvious. Two events in 1993 illustrate the rst relationship in the case of shrimp culturethe crash of Chinese shrimp farms particularly in the north due in part to increasing levels of industrial pollution around the Gulf of Bohai [51] and the Taura syndrome in Ecuador [52]. In the latter, massive mortalities in pond shrimp were apparently caused by fungicides used in banana plantations [53]. In most cases, the impact can be evidenced only after years of chronic contamination. With the continual development of the shrimp aquaculture in the coastal areas of China, concern exists over the deterioration of the water quality which in turn causes the problems of self-pollution and transmission of diseases have also occurred in areas with high pond density where the emitted chemical and biological pollutants are recirculated among farms. Since Chinese farmers have regarded shrimp aquaculture as an important way in pursuit of sustenance and the bigger economical and social prots in the Chinese coastal zone, the shrimp production rises continuously. Management measures to resolve or mitigate impairments of coastal water quality and the adverse environmental impact of shrimp aquaculture development are now required urgently and necessarily. So far, no countries or regions have established the specic measures of the sustainable development of shrimp farming, but in no doubt, all the countries and regions cultivating the shrimps are making efforts toward it. For example, in order to reduce the negative impact of aquaculture, governments of several developed countries are already adopting policies to reduce the pollution of aquatic environments, stressing the importance of studies on the production of waste products in aquafarms [5456], and of the water quality of the environments where efuents are discharged [57,58]. In recent decade, some advances in aquaculture management have also been attempted by improvements in setting up management strategies and creation of regulations in China. For example, Water Quality Standard for Fisheries (GB11607-89) was issued and enforced on 1 March 1990. The Law for Water Pollution Control revised in 1997 species that the shery superintendent ofces be held responsible for investigating and handling pollution accidents in water sheries. The Ministry of Agriculture issued Regulations for Fishery Loss Calculation of Accidents of Waters Pollution and Regulations and Procedures for Investigating and Handling Pollution Accidents in Fishery Waters in 1997, thus bringing the investigation and handling of pollution accidents in aquaculture onto a legal track. Ministry of Agriculture and local shery administrations began to reinforce construction of infrastructures of the shery environment monitoring stations in 1999 and the Ministry of Agriculture released Approaches to management of qualication for investigation and identication of shery pollution accidents in 2000. 7. Conclusions The sustainability of the shrimp farming relies on many factors, such as complete policies and regulations, good ecology, excellent breed and the assorted technology and guarantee technology, as well as the support of the government, the technological advance and the cooperation between the industries.

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At least ve impediments were recognized to the creation and effective development of sustainable shrimp farming programs: lack of recognition of the issues; poor integration of aquatic environmental protection, interagency coordination and collaboration, administrative discontinuity and inefciency; inadequate legal systems and regulation; lack of environmental quality monitoring and reporting system; and inadequate information. As a big shrimp production country in the world, greater efforts should be taken so as to explore a quotable road not only for the sustainable development of the shrimp farming but also for the advance of the marine farming. First of all, we must pay much attention to the necessary technology and capacity. Second, we should take many factors into consideration, for example, the production cost, the product quality and safety, environmental cost-benet. And we should emphasize more investment, investigation, information application and social understanding as well as the devotion of the aquaculture to the food guarantee and the release of the hunger. The basic task of the shrimp farming in the future is to produce the nutritive, safe, environmental friendly products, which is popular and accessible to the entire social stratum on the basis of full understanding of the potentiality of the coastal aquaculture. Acknowledgment The authors would like to thank anonymous referees for the English revision and are grateful to their helpful comments on a previous version of this paper. References
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