Ecological damage assessment and compensation for reclaimed coastal pond aquaculture: A case study in Qingduizi Bay, China

Mariculture ponds, most of which are reclaimed from coastal wetlands, have increased dramatically worldwide. However, ecological damage and compensation of these reclaimed mariculture ponds have not been assessed. A framework was presented to assess ecological damages of reclaimed pond mariculture and applied to the Qingduizi Bay, a typical pond mariculture area in the northern Yellow Sea of China. The results show that ecosystem services affected by reclaimed pond mariculture include marine capture fishery, gene resource provision, climate regulation, erosion control, waste treatment, science and education value, nutrient cycle and storage, and nursery/habitat. Among the values obtained from all services, the average score of damage severity to habitat services (0.74) was the highest. The total value of ecological damage associated with reclaimed mariculture in Qingduizi Bay was approximately 86,858.48 yuan hm(-2) a(-1), which is 29 times higher than the sea usage fee standard (3,000 yuan hm(-2) a(-1)) currently implemented. Results suggest that the government should update the sea area usage fee with ecological damage compensation for reclamation mariculture and collect enough money to restore damaged marine ecosystem. Moreover, the general framework could also be transferable to other reclamation pond mariculture areas and used to examine reclamation mariculture proposals at different scales.