On December 8th, Zhangzhou City held a ceremony for the release of its marine aquaculture carbon sink calculation results. It has built the first prefectural city-level fishery carbon sink resource bank in China and issued the first blue marine aquaculture carbon ticket of Zhangzhou City through the Strait Resources and Environment Trading Center.

According to Fujian Province’s 14th Five-Year Special Plan for the Development of a Province with Strong Marine Economy and the Development Strategy Plan for “Maritime Zhangzhou”, this year, Zhangzhou City organized its coastal counties (districts) and Gulei Port Economic Development Zone to carry out pilot carbon sink calculation for shellfish and algae aquaculture. The first batch of carbon sink calculations for 2020–2022 seawater aquaculture has been completed, with a total calculation area of approximately 17,000 hectares and approximately 240,000 tons of carbon sink products. Zhangzhou has become the first prefecture-level city in China to complete its seawater aquaculture carbon sink calculation.

“Ocean carbon sink” is the process and activity of absorbing and sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through marine organisms. In marine fishery aquaculture, carbon sinks can be generated by absorbing carbon dioxide, constituting an important component of blue carbon sinks. Zhangzhou, a city with a well-developed marine fishery industry, has a total coastline of 715 kilometers and a sea area of 18,600 square kilometers, with abundant resources of seawater tidal flats. The total area of aquaculture for shellfish (such as oysters and clams) and algae (such as kelp and red algae) with carbon sink functions reaches 23,600 hectares, with an annual output of approximately 1.165 million tons. Oyster production exceeds 700,000 tons per year, ranking first among prefecture-level cities in the country. Therefore, Zhangzhou has a good resource base for developing marine aquaculture carbon sinks.

“Carbon sink calculation for marine shellfish and seaweed aquaculture can effectively advance the green transformation of Zhangzhou’s fishery aquaculture and lay the foundation for realizing the ecological value of fishery carbon sinks,” the director of Zhangzhou Ocean and Fishery Bureau said.