Seawater Irrigation System for Intensive Marine Shrimp Farming in Thailand

The aim of seawater irrigation system (SIS) is to clean up shrimp pond effluent and provide high quality seawater for shrimp farming. The system has three components: water intake, treatment reservoir and discharge system. The criteria for site selection has development as a shrimp farming association is required in order to keep farmers working closely together. The construction site must be on the coastal area outside a mangrove forest. The site must be located away from a productive agriculture area. All construction sites must have undergone an environmental impact assessment (EIA). And the construction sites should be located on the area listed in the Country's Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). Around 5 projects of SIS were operated. The projects covered 1,300 families responsible for a culture area of 6,500 ha. Department of Fisheries (DOF) has planned for another 28 projects which will cover almost 44,000 ha of culture area.