Shrimp System
World shrimp consumption has been on the increase since the 1970s. Until the 1980s, almost all of the world supply came from wild fisheries. But by the mid-80s, the ancient practice of aquaculture began to take an increasing share of the global market. The increase in both the wild catch and farmed shrimp has not occurred without cost - human and environmental.
The goal of the Sustainability Institute's Shrimp System modeling project is to provide tools and resources that focus on the long-term health of the overall ecological and economic system and help find a balance that works for all players.
A model like this is not intended to predict the future—to say what will happen. It is designed to test various scenarios of what could happen, given inherent uncertainties (such as the weather), policy choices (such as by-catch restrictions or “best practice” aquaculture regulations), constraints (such as shrimp carrying capacity), or impacts from outside the system (such as shifting prices of competitive seafoods).
The model is used to test different policy scenarios. The goal is to see not only what happens, but why it happens. As that understanding builds, so does a dynamic sense of where the system is sensitive and easily changeable, and where it is resistant to change.
Resource
- The Shrimp Commodity System, by Denise Johnston, Chris Soderquist and Donella H. Meadows, (Interim Report — July, 2000) pdf (245k)