GIS-Based Aquaculture Site Suitability Study for Clam Farming in Vembanad Lake

EasyChair Preprint no. 4249

Abstract

The present study identifies and quantifies appropriate sites for black clam farming in the Vembanad Lake using geographical information system (GIS). The GIS has an increasingly important role in management and utilization of natural resources, particularly in fisheries resource assessment and management. Aquaculture has become one of the fastest growing food industries in the world. The black clam, Villorita cpyrinoides, is the most important clam species landed in India. Despite being a candidate species for aquaculture, the trials on farming of clams are very limited. Utilization of black clams from Vembanad Lake still relies on collection of wild stock, which has to replenish naturally. A proper culture technique would facilitate relocation of clam seeds to the farming sites, where they could be raised to marketable sizes. It could also reduce the fishing pressure on the natural stock and generate employment opportunities for rural fisher folk. Parameters such as soil quality, water quality and infrastructure facilities were accessed using analytical hierarchical process. Various thematic layers were prepared for categorizing suitable aquaculture sites based on three sub-models viz., soil quality, water quality and infrastructure facilities. The site suitability map was prepared using each attribute and divided into four classes such as most suitable, moderately suitable, least suitable and poor. The total area covered under this study was 6471 ha out of which, 3121 ha (48%) was identified as most suitable and from the remaining 3350 ha, 1804 ha (28%) was identified as moderately suitable, 946 ha (15%) was identified as least suitable and 600 ha (9%) was identified as poor site for clam farming in Vembanad Lake.

Keyphrases: Clam farming, GIS-based site suitability, Vembanad Lake

@Booklet{EasyChair:4249,
  author = {Suja Nagampoozhi},
  title = {GIS-Based Aquaculture Site Suitability Study for Clam Farming in Vembanad Lake},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint no. 4249},

  year = {EasyChair, 2020}}