THAILAND: SHRIMP AND PRAWN INDUSTRY EXPECTED TO SUFFER AFTER UNITED STATES PASSES CONSERVATION LEGISLATION BANNING IMPORT OF PRAWNS CAUGHT IN NETS WHICH MIGHT HARM OTHER ANIMALS

Record ID: 639805

  • Title: THAILAND: SHRIMP AND PRAWN INDUSTRY EXPECTED TO SUFFER AFTER UNITED STATES PASSES CONSERVATION LEGISLATION BANNING IMPORT OF PRAWNS CAUGHT IN NETS WHICH MIGHT HARM OTHER ANIMALS
  • Date: 16th September 1995
  • Summary: CHONBURI, THAILAND (RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV PAN EXTERIOR OF SHRIMP PACKING FACTORY 0.06 2. GVS/GV PANS/CUS FACTORY WORKERS CLEANING AND SORTING SHRIMPS (8 SHOTS) 0.48 3. GVS/GV PAN FACTORY WORKERS PACKAGING SHRIMPS (7 SHOTS) 1.20 4. SCU PICHED KAMNERDMONGKOL SAYING "THIS YEAR'S EXPORT FIGURES WILL NOT MEET THEIR TARGETS IN THE WAKE OF THIS LEGISLATION, THERE WILL BE A 20 PERCENT SHORTFALL ON EXPORTS" (THAI SPEECH) 1.42 4. GV WHEELS TURNING WATER AT SHRIMP FARM 1.47 5. SV PAN/GV/GV PAN/SCU FARMERS FEEDING SHRIMPS (5 SHOTS) 2.07 6. GV PRAWNS BEING DRAWN OUT OF WATER IN NET 2.19 7. GV FARMERS WHO HAVE BROUGHT PRAWNS TO MARKET TIP OUT BASKET OF PRAWNS 2.27 8. GVS MARKET WORKERS SORTING SHRIMPS (2 SHOTS) 2.38 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 1st October 1995 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CHONBURI, THAILAND
  • City:
  • Country: Thailand
  • Reuters ID: LVA28VU82VNI88JZ5ZH4I2E524TX
  • Story Text: - INTRO: Thailand's shrimp export industry, the largest of its kind in the world, is being challenged by conservationists accusing the shrimpers of destroying the environment.

    Most of Thailand's shrimps or prawns come from the thousands of shrimp farms that have sprung up across the country in the past decade.

    And, in as many years, Thailand's shrimp exports have grown tenfold, with the industry now valued at more than two billion U.S.

    dollars annually.

    Prawns are Thailand's fourth largest export industry, with the United States and Japan as its main customers.

    But a U.S. conservation law which took effect on May 1 could change all that, impacting directly on Thailand's exports.

    The law bans the import of prawns from countries which use fishing nets that do not protect other forms of marine life such as sea turtles.

    Environmentalists also assert that the farming of prawns destroys coastal mangrove forests.

    Thai shrimpers must now prove that their produce is harvested using environmentally-friendly methods.

    Shrimp farmers say they are already being hard hit. "Ninety percent of our exports are from shrimp farms," says Piched Kamnerdmongkol, general manager of Better Products and Technology, an aquaculture support company.

    "This year's export figures will not meet their targets in the wake of this legislation... there will be a 20 percent shortfall on exports." Thailand maintains that while a large proportion of its shrimp farms are located in mangrove areas, these operations are not necessarily responsible for the gradual destruction of the mangroves.


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