Author(s)

Yanfeng Wang^1,2, Jing Yu^1*, Pimao Chen¹

¹South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fishery Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, China.
²College of Marine Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China.

This study aims to assess ecological effects of the construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong waters. Variations in sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), catch per unit effort (CPUE), biodiversity, biomass and density of benthos were compared during the pre- (August in 2011) and post- (August in 2013) marine ranching. These were based on satellite remote sensing and survey data. Results showed that the ratio of Nitrogen (N): Phosphorus (P) was closed to 16, Chl-a increased from 7.5 - 12.3 mg·m^-3 to 10.4 - 16.2 mg·m^-3, and CPUE increased from 2.1 - 5.5 kg·h^-1 to 5.8 - 14.5 kg·h^-1. The species number of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 25, 3, 2 and 3 respectively. Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 0.5, 0.4, 0.1 and 1.0 respectively. Both biomass and density of benthos increased also. The construction of marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong had restored the habitat to some extent, and played positive effects in the conservation and proliferation of fishery resources in local area.

Marine Ranching, Ecological Effects, Remote Sensing, Eastern Guangdong Waters, China

Wang, Y. , Yu, J. and Chen, P. (2018) Remote Sensing Assessment of Ecological Effects of Marine Ranching in the Eastern Guangdong Waters, China. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 6, 101-113. doi: 10.4236/gep.2018.612007.