
Johana Carolina Cruz Potes
Johana Carolina Cruz Potes is a 32-year-old shellfish gatherer from Isla Costa Rica in Ecuador, who has been collecting concha negra since childhood. She attributes the decline in her catch and the shrinking of gathering grounds to the expansion of shrimp farms, which have led to significant deforestation of mangrove ecosystems.
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Cruz Potes has done this work since she was nine, when she first followed her father into the mud.
How the world’s voracious appetite for shrimp is destroying Ecuador’s mangroves | EcuadorThe Guardian·
United Kingdom· 2026-06-19








