Resisting the Blue Revolution: Contending Coalitions Surrounding Industrial Shrimp Farming

Abstract

Multinational corporations, national governments, and international development agencies are promoting the expansion of industrial shrimp farming in tropical, coastal zones of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Support is based on the belief that shrimp farming can contribute to the world's food supply by compensating for declines in capture fisheries, generate significant foreign exchange earnings, and enhance employment opportunities and incomes in poor, coastal communities. However, the explosive growth of the industry is generating mounting criticisms over its social, economic, and environmental consequences. The escalating conflicts between critics and supporters of industrial shrimp farming have transcended local and national arenas. They have catalyzed the formation of global alliances of environmental and peasant-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) opposed to shrimp farming and of industry groups seeking to counter the claims and campaigns of this resistance coalition. This paper uses a political ecology approach to examine the formation of these contending global coalitions and the establishment of a global environmental and political arena around shrimp farming. The paper contributes to our understanding of the dynamic roles of NGOs in transnational advocacy networks and the extent to which transnational networks can transcend traditional sources of weakness of local organizations.