FAO-run project reduces environmental impacts - effort featured in BBC documentary


23 November 2006, Rome - Shrimp -- a small animal with a giant-sized footprint.

It is the world's most sought-after seafood commodity: some 3.5 million tons of the many-legged delicacy are pulled from the ocean's waters each year, with another 2.4 million tons raised on aquatic farms.

The popular seafood is a gold mine for poor countries feeding avid consumers in northern markets. Developing nations supply some 90% of the shrimp consumed in developed countries, to the tune of US$8 billion a year. As a result, the jobs of hundreds of thousands of people in the developing world depend on shrimp.

But the sector is also one of the world's most wasteful fisheries.