Maintaining Carbon Storage Does Not Reduce Fish Production from Mangrove-Fish Pond System: A Case Study in Coastal Area of Subang District, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Deforestation and degradation of mangrove forests can be categorized as key environmental problems in Indonesia. These problems are majorly driven by overexploitation and the conversion of mangroves into brackish water aquaculture areas. One of the most common aquaculture systems traditionally developed in the coastal areas is the mangrove-fish pond system that combines fish production with existing trees. This study aims to analyze the environmental and economic aspects of mangrove-fish pond aquaculture in different levels of mangrove cover in the coastal area of Subang District, West Java, Indonesia. The spatial analysis method was used to analyze mangrove distribution and identify the current coverage in the aquaculture area. The economic aspect was analyzed, based on the costs and revenue from fish production, while the environmental aspect was represented by carbon storage, which is among the crucial mangrove ecosystem services. This study estimated carbon storage in the four-carbon pools: above- and below-ground biomass, deadwood, and litterfall. Based on the combination of visual interpretation of Sentinel 2A satellite images and field observations, approximately 667 ha of mangrove-fish pond was identified. This study found that there were no significant differences in fish production and net income from mangrove-fish pond aquaculture at various levels of mangrove cover. Meanwhile, the ponds with high mangrove cover stored higher carbon than those with medium and low mangrove covers. This indicates that maintaining carbon storage does not reduce fish production from mangrove-fish pond aquaculture.

Quantification of Ecosystem Services from Urban Mangrove Forest: A Case Study in Angke Kapuk Jakarta

“…The average AGC in the study area is also higher than that estimated using unmanned aerial vehicles in Pulau Sembilan, North Sumatera Indonesia (42.5 tonnes C/ha) [42]. The combination of AGC and BGC in the study area is comparable to that in an intact rehabilitation mangrove in Subang Indonesia that amounts to 110.3 tonnes C/ha [19]. However, the AGC and BGC in the study area are only about half of the AGC and BGC in primary mangrove in Karimunjawa National Park Indonesia, which amounts to 216.4 tonnes C/ha and 53.9 tonnes C/ha respectively [43].…”

“…Mangrove deforestation and degradation can be categorized as one of the biggest environmental problems in Indonesia, with the rate of mangrove loss of about 182 thousand ha during 2009-2019 [16]. The pressure for the conversion of mangrove forest is very high, especially for the expansion of residential areas, business areas, and aquaculture [17][18][19]. In most cases, economic interest is often used as the main consideration in decision making related to land use conversion.…”

Mangrove ecotourism development at Karimunjawa National Park, Indonesia

“…Regulating mangroves' services covers their crucial ecological functions, including coastal erosion control, sediment stabilization, and salt intrusion prevention (Rizal and Dewanti 2017). The mangrove ecosystem in several places in Indonesia is also managed as a silvofishery area that combines the provisioning services, such as fish and shrimp production, and the optimization of regulating services, such as carbon sequestration and carbon storage (Sumarga et al 2022). Supporting services of mangroves include supplying organic detritus and nutrients to adjacent coastal waters (Rizal and Dewanti 2017).…”