Each Thursday this quarter we will have a column from a Jackson School contributor covering global current events.

Economic growth is a top priority in policy agendas across the globe. In developing countries, the concern for economic growth is often unquestioned, despite the environmental damage it may cause. While Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth recently won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and raised America's awareness of our impact on the environment, others fighting for their traditional way of life, environment and homes have not fared as well.

Shrimp farming, a profitable sector in Southeast Asia, has created both wealth and destruction. Farm-raised marine shrimp is Thailand's most important agricultural export, grossing an annual sum of 2.4 billion in U.S. currency. The industry proved so profitable that it expanded to incorporate both coastal farming and low-salinity inland farming, increasing Thailand's world share of the shrimp market as well as the industry's economic importance for Thailand. But it has also created greater environmental challenges.

The original method used for shrimp farming is known as coastal farming. The shrimp are raised and harvested in rich lagoons found throughout Southeast Asia, often where mangrove lagoons used to stand. The mangrove trees are cleared to open up the lagoon, and the shrimp are farmed until the lagoon is exhausted due to the high amount of shrimp defecate. The shrimp farmers then proceed to find another more suitable lagoon.

The mangrove forests are the foundations of the ocean. Their long roots shelter adolescent fish from predators before they are ready to enter the ocean. In the American Museum of Natural History in New York, as well as the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, large displays are dedicated to the importance of mangrove lagoons. When the lagoons are deserted by the shrimp farmers, however, the mangrove forests are rarely restored.

As the consumer's appetite for shrimp grew, low-salinity inland shrimp farming began to spread in popularity. Irrigating low floodplains and placing a small amount of salt into freshwater ponds can allow shrimp to be farmed in greater areas. However, this has presented serious problems to the environment as well.

In a study in Alabama with low-salinity inland shrimp farming, the total runoff of salt, fertilizer and feed added up to over 3,500 tons every five years. While this is not an enormous number, the shrimp farming is taxing the environment.

Shrimp farming has had an effect on a wide range of environmental problems. In addition to mangrove loss and agricultural runoff, nitrogen levels are usually altered, phytoplankton growth becomes unnatural and unbalanced, and the level of pesticides in the region increases. In addition, the shrimp farmers have shifted away from small-time business to large-scale industry, hurting small farmers in Southeast Asia and altering their traditionally independent and self-sufficient way of life.

Shrimp farming, like other forms of economic development that are changing the developing world, brings both good and bad. It has certainly been an important industry for many of the Southeast Asian countries. China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia lead the way in market share of shrimp farming, followed closely by India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, the Philippines, Burma and Mexico. The process, however, has created dangerous environmental problems and introduced large industry into traditionally quiet farming regions.

Economic development has come at a cost to environmental protection. But the two are not mutually exclusive — there needs to be a way to reconcile the two. Achieving a sustainable balance is critical to the welfare of both the Southeast Asian people, and the rest of the world.

Reach Sandley Chou at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.