A GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR AQUACULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN JOHOR STATE |
| FI: TCP/MAL/6754 Field Document January 1989 |
T E C H N I C A L C O O P E R A T I O N P R O G R A M M E
MALAYSIA
Report prepared for the project Land and water use planning for aquaculture development
based on the work of
J.M. Kapetsky
Senior Fishery Resources Officer
Inland Water Resources and Aquaculture Service
FAO, Rome
This report was prepared during the course of the project identified on the title page. The conclusions and recommendations given in the report are those considered appropriate at the time of its preparation. They may be modified in the light of further knowledge gained at subsequent stages of the project.
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or constitutional status of any country, territory or sea area, or concerning the delimitation of frontiers.
1. The main focus of the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme Project TCP/MAL/6754 was to train Malaysia Department of Fisheries Personnel on the theory and practical application of a geographical information system (GIS) as a tool for land and water use planning for aquaculture development. At the same time an aquaculture development GIS was created for Johor State. This report deals with the latter activity.
2. The objective was to locate and quantify opportunities for the further development of shrimp farming in ponds and fish culture in cages in Johor State. Locational criteria and rating systems were established by considering species' physiology and culture technologies in relation to the local physical and chemical environment and infrastructures.
3. The data were entered, manipulated and analysed using a microcomputer-based, commercially available GIS.
4. Assumptions about locational criteria and their rating systems were tested by field verification. Some of the field data could also be interpreted in terms of economic consequences of siting decision. These results were then compared with those derived from a general model relating capital and operating costs to siting decisions.
5. Shrimp farming opportunities. About 193 000 ha of coastal Johor is within easy reach (2 km), of a water source for shrimp farming. However, only about 6 percent of this area includes soils which rate “fair”, or suitable in texture and pH. Much of the area is of kranji which is a potentially acid soil. Most of the “fair” or better soils are on the south and southeast coasts. Field verification data and the general model call attention to the costs of siting on acid and poor texture soils. Shrimp farm sites identified by investigations previous to this one were all on kranji or other soils rated poor or unsuitable herein. In terms of water quality, as inferred from land uses and as time series of point measurements (pH, BOD, NH3), the west portion of the south coast and the vicinity of Johor Baharu are areas where development should proceed with caution. Salinities and pH were favourable for shimp farming nearly everywhere.
6. Opportunities for culture of fish in cages. In relation to the main criteria - bathymetry, current speed and shelter from winds and waves - the west coast offers few opportunities, except at Kukup. Much of the southwest coast is too shallow, except in the mouth of Sg. Pulai where cage installations could interfere with navigation. All of the Straits of Johor area are well sheltered; however, only 12 percent of the 4 400 ha available has depths rating good or fair. Water quality in the west Straits and in the vicinity of Johor Baharu is less well suited to cage culture than elsewhere in the state. There are some 8 700 ha of sheltered waters on the south and southeast coasts from the west coast of Sg. Johor eastward. With the exception of the lower portion of Sg. Johor where there are shelter and ample depths outside the navigation freeways, current speeds in excess of those allowable occur. Water quality considerations point to Sg. Johor as a favourable area for cage culture. Apart from the lees of some islands there is little shelter on the east coast of the state. Undoubtedly, there are cage culture opportunites inside the estuaries; however, the bathymetry is not charted. Field verification of cage culture siting indicated that in addition to the criteria used, agglomeration and security should also be taken into consideration. Ratings based on depths were probably too stringent.
7. Verification. This study demonstrated the importance of testing the criteria and rating systems developed from the literature (usually based on experience gained elsewhere and some of it experimental, not operational) against the actual site-related performances of local aquaculture enterprises.
8. Recommendations. Technical and operational aspects of GIS and remote sensing applications to plan for aquaculture in other states are covered. These include expanding the storage capacity of the computer, increasing the scope of the work to include other kinds of aquaculture, making use of additional water quality data and establishing a multidisciplinary team to conduct and report the analyses.
The Food and Agriculture Organization is greatly indebted to those who assisted in the implementation of the project by providing information, advice and facilities.
Thanks are due to the staff of the Fisheries Research Institute at Glugor who, many times and in many ways, facilitated the work of the project. In particular, they include Ong Kah Sin, Director, Lui Yean Pong, Senior Fishery Officer, and Fishery Officers Ismail b. Ishak, Shahuntala Devi, Ahmad bin Nuruddin and Librarian Norhadzireh Ramli.
Others who have assisted the project include Siow Kuan Tow, Chief Fishery Officer, and Wang, Extension Officer, Johor, Sihibi Monktar, Soil Service, Department of Agriculture, and officers of the Departments of Environment and of Drainage and Irrigation, Kuala Lumpur. Personnel of shrimp farms and cage culture installations gave freely of their time and knowledge which provided much useful information for the field verifications and for the project as a whole.
The Global Resources Information Data Base Processor Facility, United Nations Environmental Programme, kindly provided the services of Dr B. Zand, Systems Analyst, as the consultant GIS analysis instructor.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 1989
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1.2 Aquaculture Development in Malaysia
2.2.1 Water quality time series
2.2.2 Water quality and land uses
2.5 Criteria for the Development of Semi-intensive Shrimp Farming in Ponds
2.5.1 Distance to brackishwater
2.6 Criteria for Fish Culture in Cages
2.8 Verification of GIS Results
2.8.1 Verification of shrimp farming opportunities
2.8.2 Verification of cage culture opportunities
3.1 Opportunities for Shrimp Farming
3.1.2 Field verification of soils
3.1.2.2 Economic implications of siting on acid soils
3.1.2.3 Economic implications of siting on poor texture soils
3.1.2.4 Rainfall in relation to low-pH soils
3.1.2.5 Previously selected shrimp farm sites in relation to soils
3.1.3 Water Quality Time Series
3.1.4 Verification of Water Quality Time Series
3.1.5 Water Quality and Land Uses
3.1.7 Verification of Salinity
3.1.8 Access to Water and Roads
3.2 Opportunities for Fish Culture in Floating Cages
3.2.2 Verification of Bathymetry, Shelter and Water Quality
4.1.1 Information from Existing Aquaculture Facilities
4.1.4 Impact of Rainfall on Pond Acidity
4.1.5 Additional Aquaculture Development Opportunities
4.2.1 Continuation of the Work Begun by the Project
4.2.5 Data preparation and analyses
4.2.6 Time frame for GIS analyses
Appendix 1: Instructors and Trainees
LIST OF TABLES
1. Aquaculture Systems and Production in Brackishwater and Marine Areas in 1986
2. Locations, Sample Sizes and Years of Observations of Water Quality
3. Percentage Surface Area Occupied by Various Land Uses in the Districts of Johor
4. Nautical Charts and Maps Digitized
5. Maps used to Establish the Inland Limits of Mangroves and for General Reference
6. Texture and pH of Johor State Coastal Soils
9. Hardware and the ERDAS Software System
10. Suitability of Soils for Shrimp Ponds: pH
11. Suitability of Soils for Shrimp Ponds: Texture
12. Soil Areas which Rate at Least Fair for Both pH and Texture Suitability for Shrimp Ponds
13. Soil Types, Soil Ratings and General Status of Shrimp Farm Sites in Johor
14. Land Uses Affecting Water Quality for Aquaculture According to the Drainage Basins of Johor
15. Salinity Characteristics of some Johor Shrimp Farms
16. Time and Distance from Shrimp Farm Sites to a Paved Road
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Johor administrative boundaries and population centres
2. Locations of water quality measurements
3. Earth Resources Data Analysis System, Inc. (ERDAS) overview of modules
4. Locations of soils rating fair or better for both pH and texture
5. Soil suitability ratings with respect to acidity in relation to total annual rainfall
6. Shrimp farm sites selected in previous investigations in relation to soil ratings developed for shrimp farming for the present study
7a. Mean, maximum and minimum concentrations of ammonia nitrogen at various water quality stations
8a. Mean, maximum and minimum BOD concentrations at various water quality stations
9. Prediction of land use impacts on water quality for aquaculture in Johor
10a. Mean, maximum and minimum salinities at various water quality stations
11. Bathymetry, shelter and current velocities