Shrimps’ Huge Carbon Footprint

According to a new study, the mangrove deforestation required for shrimp farming results in a massive land-use carbon footprint, with a one-pound bag of store-bought frozen shrimp producing one ton of carbon dioxide. Oregon State University biologist J. Boone Kauffman, who conducted the research, says many shrimp farming ponds are located in Asia on cleared mangrove forests. Inefficient use of this land causes a substantial carbon footprint—it takes five square miles of deforested land to produce only 2.2 pounds of shrimp. According to Kauffman, the environmental impact of those 2.2 pounds is approximately 10 times greater than that of an equivalent amount of beef produced on a cleared rainforest pasture—without taking into account emissions from farm development, processing, and shipping.