Sustainable shrimp

The Gulf oil spill is making Americans think twice before tossing some shrimp on the grill this summer and that might not be such a bad thing. After seeing the horrifying pictures, many are about as interested in eating seafood that’s been swimming in the Gulf as they are in diving into the water themselves. What Americans might not realize, however, is that the shrimping industry is an environmental scourge much older than the oil spill.

For more information about the destructiveness of the shrimp industry and for ways to minimize that destruction while still occasionally enjoying a shrimp dinner, see the Natural Resources Defense Council's Simple Steps article, "Meals of Mass Destruction."