Aquacultural Engineering 1 (1982) 35-44

A CASE FOR FISHERIES ENGINEERING AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE PLANNING OF COASTAL AQUACULTURE FACILITIES IN JAPAN

JUICHI KATOH

Laboratory o f Environmental Hydraulic Engineering, Department o f Marine Environmental Science and Technology, Tokyo University o f Fisheries, 5-7 Konan-4, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan

ABSTRACT

Fisheries engineering concerns the development o f the fisheries industry. It has not yet been systematized because the problems raised are so diverse and it is not easy to provide an organic link between the biological and engineering sectors. This paper is intended to present a definition and the significance or characteristics o f fisheries engineering and to propose a methodology for it. The gist o f this paper is." (1) the aim o f fisheries engineering is to buiM up the environmental conditions for the forms o f marine life concerned and (2) the six basic points which are derived serve as principles which shouM be applied to any kind o f problem.

FISHERIES ENGINEERING

There are a substantially large number of articles dealing either comprehensively or partially with the design and construction of coastal aquaculture facilities. It appears that the design of such facilities in some of these articles could be improved on by the application of civil engineering techniques. The need for such engineering techniques has arisen from the fact that conventional designs worked out by simple calculations or prepared empirically by intuition can no longer keep up with the progress of aquaculture and meet the resultant demands for greater diversity of products as well as for expansion and functional improvement of the facilities. This fact was pointed out at the FAO conference on coastal aquaculture held in November 1970 in Bangkok. Among the many reports and writings published in the past, there are some which can be highly valued for the authors' efforts to give enlightenment on fisheries engin35
Aquacultural Engineering 0144-8609/82/0001-0035/$02.75 Applied Science Publishers Ltd,
England, 1982 Printed in Great Britain

36

J. K A T O H

eering by adopting hydraulic and marine engineering data and graphs. Nevertheless, one cannot deny that the elaboration of these authors, who may be experts in the fields of engineering, does not fully answer the details required by fish culture. The first step is to examine what civil engineering has to do with aquaculture. To answer the problem one needs to know the definition of civil engineering and how it is systematized. Civil engineering is defined as a field of engineering covering planning, design and execution of work, operation, and maintenance and management, which are all required for the construction, installation and development of structures and establishments (Yasojima, 1973). The 'structures' referred to here indicate the artificial stationary constructions such as embankments, bridges and sluices which are, as a rule, intended for some specific purpose. On the other hand, the term 'establishments' refers to a number of structures which are combined together to exhibit a certain specific function. Culture ponds and hatching facilities are such establishments. 'Development' as used in the field of civil engineering is the endeavour to achieve the specific objective by suitable combination and integration of structures and establishments. The divisions listed in Table 1 are generally accepted in the civil engineering system, but agricultural engineering (or agriculture civil engineering) is also placed in this category. In addition, the recent world affairs need disaster-prevention engineering and air or water pollution control engineering as new approaches to human welfare. By accepting the concept of classification as advocated in Table 1 in the same context fishery engineering may be categorized (aquaculture engineering, fishing ground development engineering, etc.). However, the civil engineering involved in the fisheries or agriculture industry is, in its definition, different from the other civil engineering divisions shown in Table 1. Because the factors to be handled in the planning of fisheries works are many (e.g. biological principles as well as delicate daily economic problems) the civil engineer alone cannot answer the problems posed by fishery works.

TABLE 1 Disciplinary divisions of civil engineering

Sections Divisions

Structures: Establishments:

Developments: Basic problems:

Bridge engineering; Tunnel engineering; Foundation engineering; Dam engineering Railway engineering; Road engineering; Traffic engineering; River engineering; Power-generation engineering; Water system engineering; Harbour engineering; Coastal engineering; Exterior of construction and nature conservation Land development engineering; Rural development engineering; Urban development engineering Quality and durability engineering; Hydraulic engineering; Hydrological engineering; Soil mechanics; Foundation engineering

A CASE FOR FISHERIES ENGINEERING IN JAPAN

37

Civil engineering, as its d e f i n i t i o n implies, is c o n c e r n e d w i t h the i m p r o v e m e n t o f the welfare o f h u m a n society. I n d i r e c t l y fisheries or a q u a c u l t u r a l e n g i n e e r i n g derived its m e a n i n g f r o m it, e x c e p t t h a t , t h e i m m e d i a t e c o n c e r n is n o w to i m p r o v e t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f a q u a t i c life. T o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , t h e m e t h o d s o f t r a d i t i o n a l civil e n g i n e e r i n g are e m p l o y e d in t h e s o l u t i o n o f t h e a q u a c u l t u r a l e n g i n e e r i n g p r o b l e m s . A q u a c u l t u r e in a b r o a d sense m a y be classified b y the species to be c u l t u r e d , a n d fish c u l t u r e as a w h o l e m a y be divided i n t o t w o categories - f r e s h w a t e r a n d sea w a t e r ( i n c l u d i n g b r a c k i s h w a t e r ) c u l t u r e - b y the w a t e r m e d i u m utilized. Again, fish culture in J a p a n m a y be classified i n t o t w o categories - c u l t i v a t i o n a n d p r o p a g a t i o n . In Table 2 the c u l t i v a t i o n a n d p r o p a g a t i o n are p r e s e n t e d graphically b y the t e c h n i q u e s a d o p t e d a n d the w a t e r m e d i u m utilized. T h e c o m p a r i s o n is a t t e m p t e d only o n f r e s h w a t e r fish culture, R e c e n t l y (Milne, 1 9 7 2 ) a n o t h e r m e t h o d o f classification based o n t h e e n v i r o n m e n t was p r o p o s e d . A q u a c u l t u r e m a y also be classified b y the l o c a t i o n s o n the coast as s h o w n in Table 3. E a c h o f these s c h e m e s h a s its o w n advantages. Be t h a t as it may, a q u a c u l t u r a l e n g i n e e r i n g (fisheries e n g i n e e r i n g ) is f o r c e d to r e s p o n d to a wide range o f e n g i n e e r i n g

TABLE 2 Comparison of fish culture, cultivation and propagation according to the specific techniques adopted and the bodies of water utilized: modified from Kuronuma (1954)

Waters Techniques Egg taking x Hatching Fry collection Stocking Transplanting

+ Environment improvement Stock assessment Management Fishing

River Lake Swamp Reser- Paddy Fishvoir pond

x x x + + + + + + x x x + + + + + + x x x + + + + + +0 x x x + + + + +0 x x x 0+ 0+ 0 0+ 0 0 x x x 0+ 0+ 0 0+ 0 0 0

Techniques Breed improvement Transportation Same Pond construction Stocking Fertilization Feeding Density control Disease treatment Harvest

TABLE 3 A classification of coastal aquaculture 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Cultivation on the shore land Cultivation in intertidal zone Cultivation in shallow water Cultivation in midlayer and on bottom Cultivation in surface water Growing pond and breeding of seedling Larva culture on brush, oyster fence culture, etc. Cultivation utilizing water currents and flow Fish shelter, sea water farming Floating cage or basket, etc.

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J. KATOH

problems as shown in Table 3. The author classified those problems by purposes in Table 4. Furthermore, when aquacultural engineering develops and needs to be subdivided, it seems that the classification system based on disciplinary divisions as shown in Table 1 would still apply.

TABLE 4 Fisheries engineering

(I) (II) IN TR OD UCTION STRUCTURE ENGINEERING

l. Aquacultural structure (1) Aquacultural pond (2) Water supply and drainage system (3) Others 2. Structure for fishing port (1) Characteristics of the structure (2) Hydraulics of the port basin (3) Others 3. Other subjects
(III) ENVIRONMENTPROTECTION

1. Seawater exchange 2. Diffusion and mixing 3. Aeration

(IV,) D E V E L O P M E N T OF FISHERIES

1. Aquaculture (1) Artificial reef (2) Artificial tideland (3) Others 2. Wave control (1) Breakwater for fisheries (2) Floating breakwater 3. Other subjects
{V,) OUTLINE OF H Y D R A ULIC E N G I N E E R I N G WORK P L A N N I N G

1. 2. 3. 4.

Methods of investigation Methods of prediction Theory of planning Technology assessment

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING, DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION Needless to say civil engineering at large aims for the i m p r o v e m e n t of social welfare. In the case of aquaculture the designing criteria for the objective of fish p r o d u c t i o n are n o t necessarily fully provided, accordingly the f u n d a m e n t a l planning of the project must be established first. The criteria vary depending on the species handled, locality

A CASE FOR FISHERIES ENGINEERING

IN J A P A N

39

and season as well as regional status. The fundamental planning of the project, however, is believed consistent irrespective of aquaculture types and the kind of engineering work adopted in the fisheries project. The fundamental planning may be categorized into six parts as explained below. The object o f aquacultural engineering is to be clarified Construction and development of aquaculture establishments and structures is intended to create an environment in which the production of aquatic animals and plants can be improved in both quantity and quality. In general any civil engineering work sets limits on itself, and endeavours are made in the designing stage to provide sufficient rigidity and strength, cutting down the cost to a minimum, but still having the assurance of durability after completion. Civil engineering in fisheries should naturally be carried out with the same endeavours and with the clearcut recognition that the work is a means of fisheries development. Lack of this recognition often makes the finished structures and establishments almost useless or of low efficiency.

Environmental survey - from an environmental hydraulic engineering viewpoMt Execution of civil engineering work in fisheries must be preceded by the establishment of the designing criteria, and this calls for the clarification of the environmental condition best suited to the growth of the species under consideration. To be more specific, a careful prior study should be made on the ecology, physiology, diseases, and empirically established management method (e.g. breeding and growing, etc.). Aquatic animals grow and live in different environments and they are generally lower organisms. For this reason, their physiology and manifestation of characters are prone to and show wide adaptability to the changes of the environmental condition. It would be ideal, therefore, if these characteristics (relationship between nutrition and physiology and their environment, etc.) could be clarified before hand, and the environmental factors affecting qualitative as well as quantitative improvement of characters could be examined for the establishment of an 'improved type of aquaculture'. In actuality, however, such characteristics are still not fully understood except for very few fish species, and no light has yet been cast on the life cycle of many of the species of aquatic animals. This means that investigations should be conducted from every angle in future to bring light on the effect of environmental conditions on nutrition, physiology and pathology as well as natural enemies. Although survey items will be confined to engineering aspects, it must be borne in mind that the surveys are intended primarily for the increased production of animals. Surveys should be conducted along scientific lines. It is often the case that they are carried out in a formalistic manner by fisheries personnel due to administrative restraints and customary practices. Degeneration into formalism is also often observed in the mechanical compilation of data by month and

40

J. KATOH

year group, which is not sufficient to understand actual status. What counts most is not such formalism but the collection of data by the method which actually promises substantial development of the specific fish cultivation under consideration. To elaborate the fact it may be stated that the hydraulic data requires that the surveys be made vertically and by areas affected by tidal changes. As to the periodicity or seasonal surveys, they should be determined by the critical time for aquaculture operation, for instance, at the time of stocking, peak growing and harvesting, etc. The importance of such data will be better understood from the criteria survey items and the survey methods shown in Table 5.

Physical-engineering 'Effective and Defective Factors' (E.D.F.) which are most important or dominant for productivity are to be clearly defined Destructive factors or the important key points in the project planning should be grasped clearly. Surveys cast light on a number of defective factors for the productivity, either directly or indirectly, as well as on important points to be considered in the project planning. It is desirable to execute a design in which all destructive factors are excluded and all important points are given full consideration. Generally, however, a decision is made on one or two such factors or points. Usually the factors or points 'thus determined are closely interrelated with each other. Analysis o f E.D.F. Analysis and review of such factors and points formulate the major point of the successful planning work. If the flow condition (i.e. velocity, flow direction, depth, etc.) is a major factor that accelerates wear and degradation, a condition free from this factor should be artificially created. In this case, levdes or other structures should be constructed by civil engineering work after perhaps a model test and similarity comparison. If, on the other hand, water quality is the detrimental factor, then, mixing and diffusion of water becomes the main theme of study and investigation. This civil engineering work is now required for the creation of cultivation media with environmental conditions. This work can be considered as a branch of fisheries engineering, and applies to all civil engineering carried out for aquaculture projects. Relation between productivity and E.D.F. is to be clarified It is important to know how productivity can be affected by defective factors or major planning points. This calls for investigations, model experiments and data analysis which should all be conducted before embarking on the actual construction work; it may be said in this process that engineering techniques are considered critically for the first time in aquaculture. Investigation of the magnitude and nature of defective factors should be followed by the assessment of their influence on productivity. It is no exaggeration to say that

TABLE 5 The recommended criteria arranged in the eight subjects for the achievement of fundamental planning for any coastal aquaculture project 3. Climate 1 Wave
1 2 1 2 1 Water Density ZooPhyto- BOD temperaplankton plankton ture 2 COD

Month

1. Biology

2. Fisheries

4. Hydraulics

5. Water quality

6. Plankton

Z Bottom

8. Others

1 2 11 1 2 Life Habitat Stocking Main Main Air Wind history harvest density harvest obstacles tempera-direction: works ture velocity

January 4 Precipitation

3 Types of stockings

3 Daily heliograph

1 Tidal effect > O

4 Kinds of feed

February 6 Stratification 7 DO 8 BOD 9 COD 10 Phosphates 11 NO2_ N 12 Ammonium-N 13 Calcium 14 SiO;Si 15 Others

3 Reduction and oxidation potential

5 Quantity of excretes

2 Direction and 3 Salinity velocity: in three layers 4 pH value at high and low tides 5 Transparency

2 Topography and geology

6 Amount of excretes

March

7 Amount of decomposed excretes

April

3 Amount of water replaced during one tide cycle

4 Incandescence reduction 3 River: drainage area, 5 Soil nature flow discharge, water quantity, etc.

8 Oxygen required for decomposition

May

4 Sand in the flow

o~ ~

9 Amount of non<lecomposed excretes

etc.

10 Oxygen required for respiration

Z ~ ~

~" Z Records on vertical zonation at selected stations measured every ten-day period Records on the measurements made at selected spots

December Records Records on 5 the on 12 average per period: present 6 Maximum a n d status; minimum per period 13 Expected in new site

Records on size, habit and required environments

Monthly studies shall be made on the subjects (1-8) to determine the feasibility of tile site considered for aquaculture, or to derive methods to avoid unfavourable conditions.

4~

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J. K A T O H

the success of civil engineering work in the field of aquaculture hinges on such investigation. In Japan, considerable efforts have been made for clarification of defective factors, but it cannot be said that their meaning is properly evaluated. This is because the relationship between such factors and productivity has not yet been well understood. Clarification of the relationship is a problem that awaits our further and constant studies. In an attempt to bring a solution to the problem the following two methods may be considered. 1. Method in which the nutrition and physiology of the subject animal is examined at laboratory level with full account taken of its productivity, and the results obtained are compared with the defective factors for clarification of general characteristics of the said relationship. 2. Method in which the productivity of the subject animal in its natural habitat is investigated by field and laboratory studies. Method 1 is purely a biological procedure intended to study the general characteristics of the subject animal, and is advantageous in that it casts light on many physiological and other facts. However, it is clear that the laboratory tests involve difficulties for correct judgement on the physiology of the animals, because it is usually influenced largely by the natural environment in which they live. This renders it difficult to unveil the manifestation of the characteristics in its natural habitat, so that practical application of the finding is often made impracticable. Method 2, on the other hand, is intended for macroscopic study of the area covered and consequently is capable of improving productivity for a short period. However, it has its own demerit, viz. the complexity of numerous factors often leads to the omission of truly important elements. Hence, it is desirable that the two methods be employed in parallel for comparative study of the results obtained. At any rate, it is of prime importance to investigate the relations between production and defective factors in different areas and seasons. It is noted that the investigation should be conducted for the year, marking the average of annual productivity gained substantially in extended periods. If this is not feasible, it is necessary to select a number of years when the productivity is believed close to the average. The investigation described above provides the basis for assessing the productivity, clarifying the causes of production fluctuation, and establishing the conditions for project planning as explained below.

Establishment of rational planning and designing policies In the designing and planning stage, following the procedure above, due consideration should be given to economic and administrative requirements from the viewpoint of civil engineering in order to proceed with the execution of work.

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44

j. KATOH

When estimation of the benefit derivable from engineering work is completed, the regional socio-economic conditions are subjected to a rigid and comprehensive analysis leading to a construction project essential to the regional fisheries development. In order to derive fundamentals of project planning which are readily understood and satisfied, the author invites consultation to the format presented in Table 5. By filling the format provided by the required data it is possible to grasp the design criteria without too much difficulty. Use of this format is strongly recommended, because the lack of such fundamental data can hardly introduce civil engineering techniques into the field of aquaculture. The six items described above are illustrated in Fig. 1.

REFERENCES

Yasojima, G. (1973). Introduction to Civil Engineering, Gihodo, p. 1. Kuronuma, K. (1954). Significance of propagation and cultivation (in Japanese). Aquaculture, 1
&2.

Milne, P. H. (1972). Fish and Shellfish Farming in Coastal Waters, Fishing News Ltd, London, p. 15.