Ecosystem characteristics and environmental regulations based geospatial planning for sustainable aquaculture development

Abstract

The development of unplanned shrimp aquaculture has caused many environmental issues and multiuser conflicts worldwide due to the lack of ecosystem characteristics‐based comprehensive methodology for identifying suitable areas for aquaculture development. This study was conducted to identify proper zones for P. Vannamei farming using the analytical hierarchy process‐based spatial analysis. Seventeen thematic layers were grouped into four fundamental requisite for P. vannamei aquaculture, namely, land class, water (pH, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, total ammonia nitrogen, nitrate, and phosphate), soil (pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, and texture), and resource availability (distance to road, source water, hatchery, and processing facility). The pairwise comparison matrix and the weighted linear combination approach were used. The suitability scores were classified on a scale from 1 (unsuitable) to 4 (most suitable). The spatial restriction rules excluded the regulated areas, including agriculture, mangroves, forest, settlements, water bodies, regions near the high tide line. The entire study area is favorable for P. vannamei culture in terms of water, soil, and infrastructure; however, land availability is restricted to 35,032 ha. Of the available area, 24,420 ha was found most suitable, and 10,603 ha was suitable for P. vannamei culture. The major water bodies, namely, the Buckingham Canal, Kandaleru River, and Penneru River, can support 34, 23, and 25% of the shrimp culture area. The final area outputs were compared with ground truth survey data and found to be consistent. The geospatial application of this methodology provides an integrated site evaluation for P. vannamei shrimp culture taking into environmental conditions and regulations.