Initial assessment of seaweed farming ecological value in coastal waters of China.

Seaweed farming is an important part of fishery industry in China.It has multiple ecological functions.This paper used reforestation cost approach,industrial oxygen price method and production cost method to evaluate the ecological value of seaweed farming including carbon sink,oxygen release and absorption of nutrients in the sea.The results indicated that,during 2000- 2012,the annual ecological value of seaweed farming was about 60.9 billion Yuan /a.Among which the ecological value of carbon sinks was 4.29 billion Yuan /a,releasing oxygen was 6.34 billion Yuan /a,N,P absorption was 598.40 billion Yuan /a,which accounts for over 98% of the total value.Seaweed farming ecological value index and 2 sub-indices of carbon sinks,ecological value index oxygen release and absorption N,P were constructed.The paper suggested to strengthen the research on seaweed farming ecological functions,so as to lay a foundation for establishing a mechanism for seaweed farming ecological value accounting and ecological compensation.