McCarry, W. (2023, October 17). Can shrimp farming restore mangroves? this scientist is making it happen. CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL. https://www.conservation.org/blog/can-shrimp-farming-restore-mangroves-this-scientist-is-making-it-happen 

Dane Klinger, Conservation International’s aquaculture expert, advocates for transforming the shrimp farming industry into an environmentally sustainable and economically viable model to help farmers and restore mangrove forests. Klinger introduces an innovative approach that aims to disrupt the destructive pattern associated with shrimp farming. Half of the farmland is dedicated to restoring mangrove forests. The other half is used to increase shrimp production through a comprehensive approach that includes stocking larval shrimp, providing optimal feed, and closely monitoring water quality factors to create ideal conditions for water and shrimp health. The approach is set to be scaled up through the establishment of a dedicated loan fund, enabling shrimp farmers to transition to more sustainable practices, and the development of AI-based tools to identify optimal sites for mangrove restoration.

I think Klinger’s new approach to shrimp farming is a great compromise to help restore the mangrove forests and also looks at creating a sustainable way to farm shrimp. His approach is reasonable, it doesn’t fully eliminate the farming of shrimp which hurts the economy but instead searches for an eco-friendly way to improve the way farmers do their jobs. The mangrove forests are important because without their natural infrastructure to protect from erosion, and absorb storm surge impacts during extreme weather events, it wouldn’t be possible for the shrimp farms to survive. I like how he proposes to split the land in half and use part for farming and the other part to restore the mangroves. However, he ensures that using an optimal approach to farming the shrimp will ensure that the production doesn’t decrease. Additionally, protecting the mangroves ensures that thousands of plants and wildlife like birds, monkeys, and other aquatic species are protected.