Effect assessment of fishery resources proliferation in Zhelin Bay marine ranching in eastern Guangdong

In order to assess the effects of the construction of Zhenlin Bay marine ranching in the eastern Guangdong, we compared the variation in sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a), catch per unit effort (CPUE), biodiversity, biomass and density of zoobenthos during the pre- (August, 2011) and post- (August, 2013) marine ranching in Zhelin Bay, based on satellite remote sensing and survey data. Results show that the N/P ratio was nearly 16, and Chl a increased from 7.5–12.3 mg·m^–3 to 10.4–16.2 mg·m^–3. CPUE increased from 2.1–5.5 kg·h^–1 to 5.8–14.5 kg·h^–1. The species number of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 25, 3, 2 and 3, respectively. The Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index of fish, crustaceans, cephalopods and shellfish increased by 0.5, 0.4, 0.1 and 1.0, respectively. Both biomass and density of zoobenthos also increased. The construction of marine ranching in Zhelin Bay has restored the habitat to some extent, and played a positive role in the conservation and proliferation of fishery resources.