The economic impact of mariculture on a small regional economy

This case study of southern Honduras explores whether new exports act as staples or promote enclave development. Aquaculture exhibits low backward and strong forward linkages. However, reliance on imported inputs is likely to increase as vertical integration, disease and quality concerns grow. In addition, there are only minor fiscal linkages through municipality taxes, and the region has received a minor share of the surpluses generated. Shrimp farmers have tended to use reinvestment to deepen, rather than widen, their activities. Any moderate consumption linkages remain dependent upon the ecological health of the export sector itself. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.