Aquaculture Production is a Large, Spatially Concentrated Source of Nutrients in Chinese Freshwater and Coastal Seas

Citations Over TimeTop 10% of 2019 papers

Abstract

As Chinese aquaculture production accounts for over half of the global aquaculture production and has increased by 50% since 2006, there is growing concern about eutrophication caused by aquaculture in China. This paper presents a model-based estimate of nutrient flows in China's aquaculture system during 2006-2017 using provincial scale data, to spatially distribute nutrient loads with a 0.5° resolution. The results indicate that with the increase in fish and shellfish production from 30 to 47 million tonnes (Mt) during 2006-2017, the nitrogen (N) release increased from 1.0 to 1.6 Mt/year and that of phosphorus (P) from 0.1 to 0.2 Mt/year. Nutrient release from freshwater aquaculture was concentrated in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Hubei, and that from mariculture in Shandong, Fujian, and Guangdong. Aquaculture is an important strongly concentrated nutrient source in both freshwater and marine environments. Its nutrient release is >20% of total nutrient inputs to freshwater environments in some provinces, and nutrients from mariculture are comparable to river nutrient export to Chinese coastal seas. Aquaculture production and nutrient excretions are now comparable to those of livestock production systems in China and need to be accounted for when analyzing causes of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms and possible mitigation strategies.

Related Papers

• → Special issue opening comments: Seaweed-based integrated mariculture(2006)9 cited
• A status investigation of water quality and eutrophication in Jingbo Lake(2009)
• Aquaculture in the Middle East and North Africa : status and research needs(2012)
• A reflection to sustainable development of Guangxi′s mariculture(2005)
• Evaluation on Eutrophic States of Drinking Water Resource from Reservoirs in Chongqing(2007)