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Marine farms restore ecosystems in China
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MARINE farming, or oceanic pasture, refers to raising sea creatures like fish, shellfish and seaweed by particular facilities and systematic management just like raising sheep on land.
The practice was invented in Japan in the 1970s, and was gradually accepted by other countries. It was not until the 1990s that ocean farming was practiced in China; the practice remains limited.
Most oceanic pastures are set with artificial reefs in the sea. The original idea was to increase the number of sea animals for human consumption. But now the purpose is to restore the ecosystem.
Zhangzi Island in Liaoning Province (early 1990s)
The oceanic pasture at Zhangzi Island in Dalian is said to be the earliest and largest such effort in China. With successful trials in spreading seedlings of artificially bred shellfish, standardized ocean farming involving the setting of artificial reefs and water greenery, sea life started spreading at Zhangzi Island. It gradually expanded into an enormous farm covering 2,000 square kilometers.
Shellfish, including abalone; sea cucumbers; and urchin are among the major products of the farm, while schools of fish including the rare daoyu (knife fish) and anglerfish are also found in the region in recent years.
Sanya in Hainan Province (2011)
The oceanic pasture at Wuzhizhou Island in Sanya is the first tropical ocean farm in China.
About 18,000 cubic meters of artificial reefs are around the island. An audio taming system is set underwater to improve the gathering of fish to enhance the recapture rate.
Dachen Fishing Ground in Zhejiang Province (2011)
Resources had been quickly shrinking in the once-rich area since the 1990s due to pollution and overfishing. To restore the ecosystem, a project was set at Zhuyu Island in Dachen Fishing Ground in 2011.
It includes setting 7,000-cubic-meter concrete artificial reefs and breeding 160 mu (10.67 hectares) of seaweed, aiming to relieve eutrophication, as seaweeds can help absorb nitrogen and phosphorus while releasing oxygen.
Large yellow croaker is also raised in the region so that its excrement can nurture the seaweeds, which in turn provide oxygen to the croaker.
Laoshan Bay in Shandong Province (2010)
Different from most of the oceanic pastures in China chasing fishing profits, the farm that started construction at Laoshan Bay in 2010 is for resource protection, ecosystem protection and eco-travel.
More than 10,000 pieces of shipwrecks and designed artificial reefs are planned to be set by the end of 2014, while more than 4,000 pieces were completed earlier this year, forming a 26,000-cubic-meter artificial reef.
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