MARINE AQUACULTURE SPATIAL PLAN AS A TOOL FOR SOLVING POTENTIAL AQUACULTURE CONFLICTS

Melissa Mary Mathews*, Tania Golingi, Tony Chiffings, Marjorie Lim & Neil David Hartstein
DHI Water & Environment (M) Sdn Bhd, 11th floor, Wisma Perindustrian, Jalan Istiadat, Likas, 88400, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
mmm@dhigroup.com

Special acknowledgement to Lobster Aqua Technologies Sdn Bhd and Nexus Aquasciences for funding the research on the Special Environmental Impact Assessment and Marine Aquaculture Spatial Plan for the Integrated Lobster Aquaculture project. Both activities have made this project a national leader in sustainable aquaculture planning with an emphasis on socioeconomic and environmental considerations.

The development of a very large Lobster grow out industry in the Semporna Aquaculture Industrial Zone (SAIZ) drove the need for a Marine Aquaculture Spatial Plan (MASP)to safeguard habitats and ecosystems of high conservation value and ecological function, not only in the SAIZ but the adjacent national Park.  Semporna and its associated catchments are on the Western edge of the Coral triangle.  At the same time it was important to optimize aquaculture productivity.   The present aquaculture activities in the SAIZ also include seaweed, pearl, and fish farming. Other potential aquaculture activities such as mussel farming were also considered.   

The MASP development strategy is to use extensive environmental and social baseline surveys and numerical modelling of hydrodynamics to provide the necessary data base.The MASP also addresses the threats or risks to aquaculture in the SAIZ from external and internal factors identified through compatibility matrix and spatial mapping. An assessment of institutional arrangements and recommended guideline for monitoring was also carried out.

Spatial maps demarcating optimal, suboptimal, exclusion zones and types of aquaculture within the SAIZ, as well as the carrying capacity of the area for optimized aquaculture production were produced. Guidelines were established on the permissible uses for each aquaculture zone. Twelve future risks scenarios were developed in the light of risk or threats to the sustainability of aquaculture within the SAIZ.  Harmful algal blooms, siltation, pesticide, low water flow and nutrient loading from rivers were identified as major future threats to aquaculture production and sustainability. A recommended environmental and socio-economic monitoring program was developed for the SAIZ and surrounding catchment.

Due to the large scale aquaculture operations that will occur in this area and the environmental sensitivity of the region, the marine aquaculture spatial plan is seen as a vital tool to be used by the local authorities to ensure a sustainable aquaculture.