GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Evaluation for Potential Inland Aquaculture Site Selection in the George Town Conurbation, Malaysia

Puteri Nur Atiqah Bandira,Narimah Samat,Mou Leong Tan,Mohd Amirul Mahamud,Ngai Weng Chan

doi:10.3390/land10111174

Abstract

Although the aquaculture industry contributes less than 0.2% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Malaysia, it has slowly become an important economic activity due to the high-value species productions for domestic and international markets. In addition, aquaculture can potentially be used as a sustainable solution for food security in the future. At present, the selection of aquaculture sites has not received much attention. Thus, this study aims to integrate a Geographic Information System and multi-criteria evaluation approach in identifying the potential sites for brackish aquaculture in the George Town Conurbation, Malaysia. ArcGIS 10.4 was used to perform site selection analysis together with the essential spatial data such as current land use, environmentally sensitive data, and soil quality that influence suitable sites selection for aquaculture. The selection was undertaken in ad hoc manners based on available land identified by aquaculture operators. The results indicated that the George Town Conurbation has a minimal potential site (0.37%) for aquaculture sites. This minimal number results from the expansion of built-up areas towards urban fringe areas; hence less land becomes available for aquaculture. A reasonable buffer zone should be designated as a boundary between urban development and aquaculture to avoid land-use conflict between these two activities.

Highlights

Published: 2 November 2021The global human population is growing exponentially, securing the aquaculture sector’s role in ensuring the world’s food security as over 75% of the world fisheries are considered fully exploited or overexploited [1]
Remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) were used to identify the appropriate sites for establishing aquaculture farms in George Town Conurbation
Thematic maps were prepared for all the criteria chosen and reclassified into a map with cell values ranging from 1 to

Summary

Introduction

Published: 2 November 2021The global human population is growing exponentially, securing the aquaculture sector’s role in ensuring the world’s food security as over 75% of the world fisheries are considered fully exploited or overexploited [1]. The increased demand has resulted in an inevitable sector expansion, shown by the average production rate growth at 5.3% per year from 2001 to 2018 [2]. The growth is expected to intensify and increase production in the future, creating competition for finite space and resources with agricultural activities [2,3]. The sector’s expansion includes increasing farms number, establishing farms in new geographical areas, increasing farm size, increasing cultivation (stocking density), and increasing farm productivity. The expansion and intensification of the aquaculture sector are putting tremendous environmental pressures such as affluence and pesticides on the ecosystem goods and services as the presence of the farms alters the natural health of an ecosystem and disrupt the productivity of the nearby aquatic environment in a diverse and complex way [5,6]

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