UBC International Reporting Course: Cheap Shrimp, Hidden Costs

Shrimp is North America’s favourite seafood, and today it comes cheap. In just a few decades, these tiny crustaceans went from being a rare delicacy to an abundant seafood staple. But shrimp’s plunge in price – and subsequent spike in popularity – has come at a high cost to forests, marine ecosystems and labourers in the developing world. Farmed in intensive man-made ponds, prawns from countries like Thailand, China, and Vietnam, are produced at a fraction of the cost it takes to fish fresh from Canadian waters.

Students from the International Reporting Program at UBC travelled to Thailand, the world’s largest exporter of shrimp, to investigate the hidden consequences of cheap shrimp. The Globe and Mail partnered with the students to host a brief version of their story as part of their special series on global food. Click here to view the entire investigative series.