Going Back to Their Roots

Although shrimp farming has a reputation for destroying mangrove forests, at least one group of farmers in Hong Kong has found a way to raise shrimp and protect biodiversity. They’ve rediscovered a traditional shrimp farming method that takes advantage of the mangroves rather than destroying them. The farmers maintain their shrimp ponds, called gei wai, within mangrove forests, where the shrimp feed on the tiny plants, dead leaves, and waste products of other organisms that are naturally a part of the mangrove forests. The ancient gei wai system is helping meet the needs of modern farmers without sacrificing biodiversity. Sometimes our forebearers do know best!

Striped bass have recently shown a remarkable recovery. In 1973, a record 14.7 million pounds of striped bass were caught in the Chesapeake Bay, but the bass’s populations subsequently declined dramatically. Following a moratorium on striped bass fishing in the 1980s, striped bass populations increased quickly, allowing the fishery to reopen in the 1990s.