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

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 aquaculture was concentrated in a few provinces, contributing >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 associated nutrient excretions are now comparable to those of livestock production systems in China and need to be accounted for when analyzing causes of eutrophication, oxygen depletion and harmful algal blooms and possible mitigation strategies.

Authors

PBL Authors
Lex Bouwman Arthur Beusen
Other authors
Liu, X.

Specifications

Publication title
Aquaculture Production is a Large, Spatially Concentrated Source of Nutrients in Chinese Freshwater and Coastal Seas
Publication date
1 February 2020
Publication type
Article
Publication language
English
Issue
Environmental Science & Technology, 54(3)
Product number
4344