A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the. degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1998

Shrimp export is one of major foreign exchange earner in aquaculture exports of the country, and it is nearly 40-50% of total aquaculture exports. During recent past, expansion of this industry was rapid in northwestern province (NWP) of the country. However there were ups and downs in the industry due to disease outbreaks and due to prevailing environmental problems of the industry. Currently shrimp industry covers nearly 3000 ha of the coastal area oftheNWP. This study is designed to study the major environmental issues prevailing in the area, and to study role of government, non-government agencies in regulating, in supporting and in monitoring of aquaculture activities to achieve the expectations. Further, existing laws, regulations and resources are also evaluated. Lack of enforcement of exiting laws and regulations, haphazard development, farmers carelessness on the environmental issues, resulted disease outbreaks, pollution of water bodies, encroachment of sensitive areas and destruction of wetlands are the major issues in collapsing of shrimp industry in Sri Lanka. Presence of heavy metals such as Pb, Zn, and Cr in sediments is also major concerned. The introduction of waste abatement program by proper research work and by adopting of new methods for local conditions is essential to reduce the potential threat to water quality. This could be supported by the implementation of existing laws and regulations in order to regulate, plan and to monitor the shrimp aquaculture sector.