Vulnerability of mariculture areas to oil-spill stress in waters north of the Shandong Peninsula, China

Abstract

Mariculture plays an important role in providing humans with a stable source of aquatic products, but oil spills have both real and perceived effects on mariculture facilities and stocks. This study developed an oil-spill environmental-vulnerability model to assess and map the vulnerability of mariculture areas by integrating various indicators of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability into a composite index using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the geographic information system (GIS). This study aimed to assess the spatial heterogeneity of mariculture vulnerability to oil-spill stress in waters north of Shandong Peninsula, China. Weighting indicated that sensitivity was determined by the natural environment in which each mariculture area was located, while exposure was determined by potential oil-spill sources. Together, sensitivity and exposure strongly affected the vulnerability of various mariculture areas, while adaptability, determined by oil-spill response capability, had less effect on vulnerability. The waters north of Shandong Peninsula were divided into four sub-zones for ease of description. The results showed obvious spatial variations in oil-spill vulnerability among the zones; the zone in which the Miaodao Archipelago was located showed extremely high vulnerability to oil spills, in contrast to the other zones. This study quantitatively analyzed the vulnerability of mariculture areas to help clarify the effects of oil-spill accidents, and the results highlighted the need to enhance adaptability to reduce vulnerability, thereby benefiting marine aquaculture stakeholders who are actually beset by oil-spill risks.