To assess the effects of shrimp farming on
the environment and on the coastal population,
a study was undertaken by a team of scientific
and technical staff of CMFRl in Nagapattinam
Quaid-e-Milleth district, Tamil Nadu in September,
1995. Several small and large farms and
corporate farms in nine coastal places, where a number of farms are located were
covered in the study. With the help of the mobile
laboratory of the CMFR Institute, the team
collected and aneilysed soil, water and plankton
samples in the inlet and outlet of the farm areas,
shrimp ponds and from the wells of the nearby
villages. Estimations on hydrological parameters,
nutrients and total and differential
counts of bacteria in the water and soil samples
were made following standard procedures
