Enhancing the Ability of Local Stakeholders to effectively Understand the Impacts and Technical Ways of Sustainable Mariculture in San Gou bay

Rongcheng Fisheries Association, Shandong Province, China

The main goal of this proposal was to help local stakeholders to enhance the consciousness for protecting environment and to find appropriate ways of sustainable exploiting and aquaculture in the Sanggou Bay, Northern Yellow Sea of China.

In this program, three objectives are aimed:

1) To improve knowledge of local communities in the impacts of mariculture to the marine environment, and sustainable use of the marine and coastal resources for mariculture activity;

2) To transfer scientific technique and sustainable mariculture technologies to the local communities and

3) to share necessary information on sustainable mariculture with local stakeholders.

To achieve the above three objectives, four activities or measurements are proposed:

1) To popularize the new knowledge and information on sustainable mariculture to the local

stakeholders by the methods of distributing newsletters;

2) To enhance the consciousness of local stakeholders on the protection of marine environment and the development sustainable mariculture based on the carrying capacity of ecosystem by providing necessary knowledge and information through publishing literature and distributing brochures to local communities;

3) To demonstrate the local stakeholders for the polyculture or multi-trophic integrated mariculture management.

4) To introduce the justifications and techniques of environmentally health and sustainable mariculture, through training course, seminars and workshop for local stakeholders.

1.      Dissemination of information about sustainable mariculture to local communities:

Review, summarise, and provide local maricultrue practitioners with existing information about mariculture.  The targeted information include the comparison of the collected data on marine environment before and after introducing large-scale mariculture operations in San Gou Bay.  The current and future status of environment and mariculture in the Bay will be analysed with the planned and expected development activities considered.  The existing information about the experiment on monoculture and polyculture will be reviewed and summarised.  The compiled information on sustainable mariculture, including all the above information, will be provided to the local communities by newsletter.

2.      Capacity building of local communities:

2.1.      Organise site visits to demonstration areas with best practices for sustainable mariculture.  Approximately 20 local mariculture farmers will participate in the site visits.  The demonstration projects include:

·                polyculture of suspended raft culture abalone and kelp;

·                polyculture of scallop and kelp; and

·                ecological bottom culture of sea cucumber, abalone and scallop.

2.2.      Organise a seminar on better management planning for sustainable mariculture.  Approximately 20 local mariculture practitioners and experts will attend the seminar to share and exchange data, information, and knowledge.  During the seminar, the experts will present the results of long-term monitoring activities on the environment and mariculture in Sanggou Bay to show its current status and future trend.  The local practitioners will present their experience and problems in operating mariculture farms.

2.3.      Organise a training course for local mariculture practitioners on sustainable maricultrue.  An instructor(s) will be invited from the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute.  The course deals with the following topics:

·                negative impacts of intensive monoculture on marine environment;

·                theory and practice of polyculture; and

·                an example or a model of sustainable mariculure.

2.4.      Publish newsletters twice to disseminate knowledge about sustainable mariculture.  The newsletters will summarise, in plain language, the information and results from all the above activities proposed and conducted under this contract.