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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 000248 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND OES/PCI 
EPA FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIS SENV ECON CH
SUBJECT: Inland Aquaculture Challenges in the Pearl River 
Delta(PRD)Region - Eutrophication and Contamination 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Inland aquaculture in south China faces two major 
environmental challenges: eutrophication (excess nutrient loading) 
and contamination.  Guangdong officials have identified 18 lakes and 
reservoirs in the province as being more contaminated than Wuxi 
Lake, a focal point of international attention recently for 
excessive eutrophication.  So far, existing scientific data suggest 
that freshwater aquaculture products in the Pearl River Delta region 
contain "safe" levels of certain toxic contaminants; but research 
has been limited and much more is needed.  The potential threat of 
cultured invasive species is another area that needs more attention. 
 Training and other technical assistance from U.S. and other foreign 
agencies and institutions could help strengthen south China's 
monitoring and testing systems.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In China, aquaculture-derived products is big business. 
According to the Ministry of Agriculture - Fisheries Bureau, in 
2007, China derived 68% of its total seafood output from 
aquaculture, ranking number one in the world for aqua-product 
exports. In the Pearl River Delta region, the South China Inland 
Fishery Zone, which includes Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian 
provinces, is China's second largest inland fishery after the middle 
and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.   Various large and popular 
carp (black, big head, silver, grass, crucian, common) comprise 
about 90 percent of the freshwater fish species cultured in the 
South China Inland Fishery Zone.  Other popular species include 
tilapia, Chinese bream, North America largemouth bass, eels, and 
catfish.  Pond culture (as opposed to cultivation in larger open 
water bodies like reservoirs, lakes and river channels) is the major 
method of production in China's inland aquaculture and makes up 
about 75 percent of total production.  This system relies heavily on 
rainfall and groundwater recharge, but often has limited drainage 
and recirculation and can be heavily affected by nearby sources of 
agricultural runoff and various industrial and municipal pollutant 
sources. 
 
¶3. (U) Extremely rapid development and heavy industrialization of 
the PRD region has brought environmental degradation to aquaculture 
in South China.  The two major environmental factors affecting 
inland (as well as marine) aquaculture in China and the PRD are 
eutrophication, due to excess nutrient loading; and contamination 
created by discharges from industry, municipal wastes, and 
agriculture.  Other problems include the increased likelihood of 
bacterial and viral disease outbreaks due to the concentrated 
population of individual species in confined close quarters and the 
impact of non-native and exotic cultured aquatic species-- some of 
them high level predators like the North American largemouth bass-- 
on China's diverse and often unique indigenous fish fauna and 
aquatic ecosystems. 
 
Eutrophication:  Aquaculture Can Foul its Own Nest 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶4. (U) Academic and government fishery and pollution monitoring 
experts in the Pearl River Delta area told Congen Science Fellow 
that excessive eutrophication is the single most damaging factor to 
aquatic resources, both freshwater and marine, in the PRD Region. 
It is likewise the major water quality problem for virtually all 
major rivers and coastal regions of China.  According to recent 
media reports, Guangdong's government has identified 18 lakes and 
reservoirs in the province as more contaminated than even Wuxi's 
Lake Tai, the focus of recent international attention due to 
blue-green algal bloom invasions caused by extreme eutrophication. 
 
¶5. (U) Aquaculture itself plays a major role in creating this excess 
of nutrients in south China because of the sheer numbers of fish 
farms in the PRD and coastal regions.   As a result, such high 
concentrations of farmed aquatic animals generate tremendous 
quantities of excretory products as waste.  The sum of all this 
waste - combined with excess unused fish feed and compounded by 
episodes of occasional water shortage, rising temperatures and poor 
drainage - is excess production of nutrients in the water.  These in 
turn foster rapid and uncontrolled algal growth.  Excessive algal 
growth can deplete oxygen, enhance the incidence of disease, 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000248  002 OF 003 
 
 
stimulate the formation of more severe harmful algal blooms and 
cause other undesirable results. 
 
Contamination - Is There a Problem? 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Preliminary monitoring data, although somewhat sparse, 
suggest that freshwater aquaculture products in China have fewer 
contaminants than marine aquaculture products.  About 90 per cent of 
the freshwater fish cultured here are varieties of fast-growing 
Asian carps (black, bighead, silver, grass), which take only about 
one or two years to reach marketable size.  These species do not 
require a long maturation time in the ponds, nor do they occupy a 
high level in the food web, making them less likely than long-lived 
carnivorous fish (such as larger marine species) to accumulate 
persistent and bioaccumulative toxic (PBT) contaminants like mercury 
and DDT over time.  According to the scientific staff of the large 
Guangdong aquacultur3 institute we visited, and in the view of many 
other aquaculture industry experts in the PRD, chemical contaminants 
are not considered to be a serious problem in most of the freshwater 
fish species which are cultured in the PRD. 
 
¶7. (U) A leading local environmental research laboratory's 2007 
Guangdong assessment of nearly 400 fish from area markets, which was 
reportedly the first study of its kind, found "moderate" levels of 
certain common contaminants such as pesticides and flame retardants 
in farmed freshwater fish.  These were in concentrations normally 
ranging well below the limits enforced by the US FDA and the Chinese 
Government.  The study, which was published internationally, 
concluded that consumers could safely eat more than 16 meals per 
month of farmed freshwater fish.  China's marine fishery and 
aquaculture products fared more poorly, however, and tended to show 
higher levels than did the inland samples, with some of the 
cage-cultured marine fish judged safe to eat only for only about one 
meal per month.    This information was welcome news to support the 
contention held by so many inside the local aquaculture field that 
there are few or no problems with inland aquatic contaminants.  But 
the study only included data on a few selected persistent, 
traditional organic contaminants, and did not assess toxic metals 
like mercury.  While the results of this study are encouraging for 
freshwater products, there appears to be growing caution among some 
consumers here who are gradually becoming more aware of the 
potential health risks from environmental contaminants in seafood. 
 
¶8. (U) Water and aquaculture researchers in the PRD are beginning to 
take some additional steps to identify and monitor contamination in 
aquaculture products.  They are also assessing ecosystem changes 
brought on by aquaculture here.  In cooperation with the Ministry of 
Agriculture, the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute of the 
Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences maintains a Fishery 
Environmental Monitoring Center, which conducts laboratory analysis 
on fish samples to identify trends and background levels for various 
environmental contaminants, including mercury, and also to monitor 
and treat disease problems in the cultured fish. 
 
Threat of New Species: Largemouth Bass, a Prime Example 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶9. (U) Rapid economic development has made China's rich biodiversity 
especially vulnerable to invasive species and a decline of native 
species.  The largemouth bass, a native species of Eastern North 
America, is swiftly becoming a very popular and high-demand product 
of inland aquaculture in the PRD.  A high level freshwater predator 
species, its recent popularity in aquaculture has also allowed it to 
become firmly and permanently established as a "wild" invasive 
freshwater species in the PRD region of south China.  The concept of 
cataloging and identifying threatened, endangered, extirpated, and 
invasive species of aquatic organisms is relatively new to China. 
Chinese scientists and aquaculture experts are aware of the 
potential threat of invasive fish species and are making an effort 
to monitor them.  However, more work is needed in tracking them and 
assessing their impact on native aquatic organisms in the PRD 
region.  In a step in the right direction, the Pearl River Fisheries 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000248  003 OF 003 
 
 
Research Institute near Guangzhou maintains a National Fishery 
Environmental Field Research Station for the Pearl River Estuary, 
where specimens of wild fish and fish larvae from various segments 
of the Pearl River and upper PRD are continuously sampled and 
taxonomically identified.  This allows fishery scientists to more 
effectively follow changes in fish fauna in the PRD over time, and 
to identify adverse trends in local fishery resources. 
 
Comment: Strengthening the Monitoring System 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) There is still a great deficit of scientific data about the 
environmental impact of the Pearl River Delta's freshwater 
aquaculture and contamination in its output, especially about 
contaminants like mercury and dioxins. In addition, the government 
and various institutions have a tendency of not sharing the data 
that they do have.  Further compounding the issue, a study in one 
area often leads to wide scale conclusions, rather than more 
meaningful analysis.  These challenges underscore the fact that 
across the Chinese environmental spectrum, the government and 
scientific community simply lack adequate knowledge and awareness of 
what exactly is in the water, and what effect it is having.  Even 
though there have been some recent but relatively minor studies, 
those involved in identifying and assessing risks to ecosystems and 
human health here - and how to minimize and correct these risks - 
are usually flying blind. 
 
An U.S. Assistance Role? 
------------------------ 
 
¶11. (U) Local scientists who have international experience and 
awareness of the overall situation in south China view this as a key 
problem.  The overall lack of any large-scale monitoring efforts of 
aquatic species and pollutants in the ecosystems of the Pearl River 
Delta and the tendency not to share data between institutes and 
jurisdictions (reftel) limit efforts to definitively assess 
contaminants in inland aquaculture products and the impact of 
aquaculture on the local environment.  Training and other technical 
assistance from U.S. and other foreign agencies and institutions 
could help strengthen south China's monitoring and testing systems. 
One area where assistance could be particularly helpful would be in 
developing air transport and deposition models to better 
characterize and identify important sources of mercury and other 
persistent and bioaccumulative toxic substances (PBTs), which may be 
reaching the PRD from other regions in China.  Another useful step 
would be to provide more modern instrumentation and training in 
analytical techniques for identifying and monitoring high-risk PBT 
chemicals in aquatic media in PRD aquatic ecosystems.  Training in 
both ecological and human health risk assessment techniques would 
also be valuable tools for enhancing the capabilities of Chinese 
agencies, scientists and institutes involved in aquaculture and food 
safety. 
 
¶12. (U) Beijing Embassy ESTH and Coast Guard Liaison cleared this 
cable. 
 
Goldberg