My first case study can be found at http://personal.colby.edu/personal/t/thtieten/aqua-ecua.html.

Ecuador is one of the largest producers of shrimp. In the 1980’s shrimp production in Ecuador rose by 600%. The high demand caused mariculturists to clear more and more of mangrove forests to create ponds to hold the shrimp. The extreme increase in the number of ponds solved the current high demand problem, but cannot be considered sustainable development. Sustainable development would meet the needs of the present without compromising the future, but this is not true for this case study. Creating so many new ponds also meant clearing a substantial amount of mangrove trees. Mangrove trees are an important necessity to the shrimp as well as other marine life. They produce a nutrient rich environment and offer protection from predators. The decrease in mangrove forests has greatly decreased the supply of shrimp in today’s generation. Only ½ of the ponds are being utilized in today. Due to this unsustainable development, Ecuadorean mariculturists are now paying a high price for the diminished shrimp supply.

My second case study can be found at http://www.pbs.org/emptyoceans/fts/salmon/casestudy.html

Although there is no specific location, it refers to farm raising salmon in places such as British Columbia and Chile. The majority of salmon products sold in stores and restaurants in the U.S. come from farm-raised salmon. Farming salmon is a cheap way to produce a substantial amount of fish in quick time to meet high demands. Salmon farming uses open, net-cages, where high densities of salmon are stocked to maximize profit.. Most salmon farms are located in areas where wild salmon also live. Because of this, many problems have occurred that are harming the wild salmon population. Large numbers of farmed fish are often escaping their net cages and out-competing the native salmon for survival. Another major issue is disease. Due to the high densities of fish in the net cages, ill conditions are created where contagious diseases, infestations, and parasites are able to be spread to native salmon. Again, this is another example of unsustainable development where an apparent productive creation is in actuality inhibiting future generations of wild salmon populations.

Both of these cases relate to each other in the sense they both deal with aquaculture. I had the opportunity to spend a few months living in Charleston, South Carolina two years ago. Although both of these cases refer to places other than South Carolina they can definitely relate. South Carolina has a large aquaculture industry. While there is aquaculture for shrimp there is not specifically for salmon, but other types of fish which have similar trends. I feel as though aquaculture is always developing to become more efficient and to make more profit. Both of these cases can be looked at as guide to achieve sustainable development. Both case studies show how disrupting the environment can negatively impact the future. Creating more ponds temporarily fixed the high demand for shrimp, but ultimately damaged the population. Fish farming has now been seen to be damaging to native populations of fish. By looking at these case studies we can better understand how easily environmental disruptions can have a negative effect on the future in such a short amount of time. In short terms these case studies show “what not to do” and better shape how places high in aquaculture can reach sustainable development rather than unsustainable.