Abstract
This article examines the effects of the changes associated with the neoliberal economic model on the development of the shrimp aquaculture industry in Mexico. It uses a political ecology approach to analyze the relationship between state policies, recent expansion of the industry, and the environment in Sinaloa, Mexico. The analysis reveals the ways in which shrimp aquaculture is currently having a negative impact upon coastal ecosystems and rural people. It also shows how a local resistance to the industry’s expansion is emerging, and the role played by fishing cooperatives in this process. The article proposes that in order to achieve the sustainable development of the shrimp industry, special attention should be given to environmental and social factors as well.Keywords: Mexico, shrimp framing, environmental degradation, sustainable development, coastal ecosystems, political ecology,
Highlights
In Mexico, the concept of sustainable development has become an important criterion with which to frame the future use and exploitation of the country’s natural resources
As the aftermath of the country’s election as a member of United Nations’ Commission on Sustainable Development, the Mexican government has tried to follow the guidelines adopted by Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)
Shrimp aquaculture in Mexico, as in many other Third World Countries, has been depicted as having a great potential to contribute to the economic development of the country through the generation of export profits and the creation of jobs in rural areas
Summary
In Mexico, the concept of sustainable development has become an important criterion with which to frame the future use and exploitation of the country’s natural resources.. The 1995-2000 National Development Plan (Plan Nacional de Desarrollo). 1. An earlier draft of this article was presented in a session on the Political Ecology of the Mexican Crisis since 1970, at the 1999 Meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Tucson, Arizona. I would like to thank Jim Greenberg for his invitation to participate in the session. In writing this article I have benefitted from my participation at the Aquaculture Research Workshop in Santa Barbara, California. I would like to express my gratitude to Susan Stonich, Conner Bailey, Billie DeWalt, Bonnie McCay, John Bort, and the other participants at this workshop for the stimulating intellectual engagement. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers for the Journal of Political Ecology for their comments and suggestions in an earlier draft of the article. The original quote reads: frenar las tendencias de deterioro ecológico y sentar las bases para transitar hacia un desarrollo sustentable, que permita una mejor calidad de vida para todos, propicie la superación de la pobreza, y contribuya a una economía que no degrade sus bases naturales de sustentación
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