Everyone thinks about the high export value of this commodity and government policies tend to be very favourable to intensive shrimp cultivation. But, if the situation is reviewed properly, I don't think the governments would have the same thinking about it. For freshwater wetlands, population pressure is one of the problems. What is happening in many of the countries here is that population has almost doubled in the past 20 to 30 years or so and extra land had to come from somewhere. In many cases, that land has not been available so freshwater wetlands have been reclaimed, not understanding what implication this has and what adverse impact it will have on their environment and on their lives.
Wetlands are water reservoirs which traditionally get filled every year.
You remove them and that water has to go somewhere else into someone's house, onto agricultural land. The storage capability is lost. Wildlife habitats are destroyed. Away from the coast, fish from freshwater lakes is one of the most important sources of animal protein in this region. And a lot of freshwater plants are used for fodder and fuel.