The Coastal Resources Center conducted a study of the social and environmental impacts of shrimp aquaculture in Latin America. The study was based on the best available secondary sources and several years of field work in Ecuador.

By comparing Latin America’s experience with that of other regions, it may be possible to avert severe impacts such as those recently suffered in Asia. The study report was supported with funding from the Hemispheric Free Trade Expansion (HFTE) Project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Office of Regional Sustainable Development, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. The objective of the HFTE project is to help to resolve key market issues impeding environmentally sound and equitable free trade in the hemisphere.