Aquacultural Engineering 1 (1982) 35-44

A CASE FOR FISHERIES ENGINEERING AND ITS APPLICATION

TO THE PLANNING OF COASTAL AQUACULTURE FACILITIES
IN JAPAN

JUICHI KATOH

Laboratory o f Environmental Hydraulic Engineering, Department o f Marine Environmental

Science and Technology, Tokyo University o f Fisheries, 5-7 Konan-4, Minato-ku,
Tokyo 108, Japan

ABSTRACT

Fisheries engineering concerns the development o f the fisheries industry. It has not yet
been systematized because the problems raised are so diverse and it is not easy to
provide an organic link between the biological and engineering sectors. This paper is
intended to present a definition and the significance or characteristics o f fisheries
engineering and to propose a methodology for it.
The gist o f this paper is." (1) the aim o f fisheries engineering is to buiM up the
environmental conditions for the forms o f marine life concerned and (2) the six basic
points which are derived serve as principles which shouM be applied to any kind o f
problem.

FISHERIES ENGINEERING

There are a substantially large number of articles dealing either comprehensively or

partially with the design and construction of coastal aquaculture facilities. It appears
that the design of such facilities in some of these articles could be improved on by the
application of civil engineering techniques. The need for such engineering techniques
has arisen from the fact that conventional designs worked out by simple calculations
or prepared empirically by intuition can no longer keep up with the progress of aqua-
culture and meet the resultant demands for greater diversity of products as well as for
expansion and functional improvement of the facilities. This fact was pointed out at
the FAO conference on coastal aquaculture held in November 1970 in Bangkok.
Among the many reports and writings published in the past, there are some which
can be highly valued for the authors' efforts to give enlightenment on fisheries engin-
35
Aquacultural Engineering 0144-8609/82/0001-0035/$02.75 © Applied Science Publishers Ltd,
England, 1982
Printed in Great Britain
36 J. K A T O H

eering by adopting hydraulic and marine engineering data and graphs. Nevertheless,
one cannot deny that the elaboration of these authors, who may be experts in the
fields of engineering, does not fully answer the details required by fish culture.
The first step is to examine what civil engineering has to do with aquaculture. To
answer the problem one needs to know the definition of civil engineering and how it
is systematized. Civil engineering is defined as a field of engineering covering planning,
design and execution of work, operation, and maintenance and management, which
are all required for the construction, installation and development of structures and
establishments (Yasojima, 1973).
The 'structures' referred to here indicate the artificial stationary constructions such
as embankments, bridges and sluices which are, as a rule, intended for some specific
purpose. On the other hand, the term 'establishments' refers to a number of structures
which are combined together to exhibit a certain specific function. Culture ponds and
hatching facilities are such establishments. 'Development' as used in the field of civil
engineering is the endeavour to achieve the specific objective by suitable combination
and integration of structures and establishments.
The divisions listed in Table 1 are generally accepted in the civil engineering system,
but agricultural engineering (or agriculture civil engineering) is also placed in this
category. In addition, the recent world affairs need disaster-prevention engineering and
air or water pollution control engineering as new approaches to human welfare.
By accepting the concept of classification as advocated in Table 1 in the same
context fishery engineering may be categorized (aquaculture engineering, fishing
ground development engineering, etc.). However, the civil engineering involved in the
fisheries or agriculture industry is, in its definition, different from the other civil
engineering divisions shown in Table 1. Because the factors to be handled in the
planning of fisheries works are many (e.g. biological principles as well as delicate daily
economic problems) the civil engineer alone cannot answer the problems posed by
fishery works.

TABLE 1
Disciplinary divisions of civil engineering

Sections Divisions

Structures: Bridge engineering; Tunnel engineering; Foundation engineering; Dam

engineering
Establishments: Railway engineering; Road engineering; Traffic engineering; River engineering;
Power-generation engineering; Water system engineering; Harbour
engineering; Coastal engineering; Exterior of construction and nature
conservation
Developments: Land development engineering; Rural development engineering; Urban
development engineering
Basic problems: Quality and durability engineering; Hydraulic engineering; Hydrological
engineering; Soil mechanics; Foundation engineering
 A CASE FOR FISHERIES ENGINEERING IN JAPAN 37

Civil engineering, as its d e f i n i t i o n implies, is c o n c e r n e d w i t h the i m p r o v e m e n t o f the

welfare o f h u m a n society. I n d i r e c t l y fisheries or a q u a c u l t u r a l e n g i n e e r i n g derived its
m e a n i n g f r o m it, e x c e p t t h a t , t h e i m m e d i a t e c o n c e r n is n o w to i m p r o v e t h e p r o d u c -
t i o n o f a q u a t i c life. T o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t , t h e m e t h o d s o f t r a d i t i o n a l civil e n g i n e e r i n g
are e m p l o y e d in t h e s o l u t i o n o f t h e a q u a c u l t u r a l e n g i n e e r i n g p r o b l e m s .
A q u a c u l t u r e in a b r o a d sense m a y be classified b y the species to be c u l t u r e d , a n d
fish c u l t u r e as a w h o l e m a y be divided i n t o t w o categories - f r e s h w a t e r a n d sea w a t e r
( i n c l u d i n g b r a c k i s h w a t e r ) c u l t u r e - b y the w a t e r m e d i u m utilized. Again, fish culture
in J a p a n m a y be classified i n t o t w o categories - c u l t i v a t i o n a n d p r o p a g a t i o n . In Table 2
the c u l t i v a t i o n a n d p r o p a g a t i o n are p r e s e n t e d graphically b y the t e c h n i q u e s a d o p t e d
a n d the w a t e r m e d i u m utilized. T h e c o m p a r i s o n is a t t e m p t e d only o n f r e s h w a t e r fish
culture,
R e c e n t l y (Milne, 1 9 7 2 ) a n o t h e r m e t h o d o f classification based o n t h e e n v i r o n m e n t
was p r o p o s e d . A q u a c u l t u r e m a y also be classified b y the l o c a t i o n s o n the coast as
s h o w n in Table 3.
E a c h o f these s c h e m e s h a s its o w n advantages. Be t h a t as it may, a q u a c u l t u r a l
e n g i n e e r i n g (fisheries e n g i n e e r i n g ) is f o r c e d to r e s p o n d to a wide range o f e n g i n e e r i n g

TABLE 2
Comparison of fish culture, cultivation and propagation according to the specific techniques
adopted and the bodies of water utilized: modified from Kuronuma (1954)

Waters River Lake Swamp Reser- Paddy Fish-

voir pond

Techniques Techniques
Egg taking x x x x x x Breed improvement
x Hatching x x x x x x Transportation x
Fry collection x x x x x x Same
Stocking + + + + 0+ 0+ Pond construction
Transplanting + + + + 0+ 0+ Stocking
0 0 Fertilization
+ Environment improvement + + + + 0+ 0+ Feeding 0
Stock assessment + + + + 0 0 Density control
Management + + + 0 Disease treatment
Fishing + + +0 +0 0 0 Harvest

TABLE 3
A classification of coastal aquaculture

1. Cultivation on the shore land Growing pond and breeding of seedling

2. Cultivation in intertidal zone Larva culture on brush, oyster fence culture, etc.
3. Cultivation in shallow water Cultivation utilizing water currents and flow
4. Cultivation in midlayer and on bottom Fish shelter, sea water farming
5. Cultivation in surface water Floating cage or basket, etc.
38 J. KATOH

problems as shown in Table 3. The author classified those problems by purposes in

Table 4.
Furthermore, when aquacultural engineering develops and needs to be subdivided,
it seems that the classification system based on disciplinary divisions as shown in
Table 1 would still apply.

TABLE 4
Fisheries engineering

(I) IN TR OD UCTION
(II) STRUCTURE ENGINEERING
l. Aquacultural structure
(1) Aquacultural pond
(2) Water supply and drainage system
(3) Others
2. Structure for fishing port
(1) Characteristics of the structure
(2) Hydraulics of the port basin
(3) Others
3. Other subjects
(III) ENVIRONMENTPROTECTION
1. Seawater exchange
2. Diffusion and mixing
3. Aeration
(IV,) D E V E L O P M E N T OF FISHERIES
1. Aquaculture
(1) Artificial reef
(2) Artificial tideland
(3) Others
2. Wave control
(1) Breakwater for fisheries
(2) Floating breakwater
3. Other subjects
{V,) OUTLINE OF H Y D R A ULIC E N G I N E E R I N G WORK P L A N N I N G
1. Methods of investigation
2. Methods of prediction
3. Theory of planning
4. Technology assessment

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING, DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION

Needless to say civil engineering at large aims for the i m p r o v e m e n t of social welfare.
In the case of aquaculture the designing criteria for the objective of fish p r o d u c t i o n
are n o t necessarily fully provided, accordingly the f u n d a m e n t a l planning of the project
must be established first. The criteria vary depending on the species handled, locality
 A CASE FOR FISHERIES ENGINEERING IN J A P A N 39

and season as well as regional status. The fundamental planning of the project, how-
ever, is believed consistent irrespective of aquaculture types and the kind of engineering
work adopted in the fisheries project.
The fundamental planning may be categorized into six parts as explained below.

The object o f aquacultural engineering is to be clarified

Construction and development of aquaculture establishments and structures is
intended to create an environment in which the production of aquatic animals and
plants can be improved in both quantity and quality.
In general any civil engineering work sets limits on itself, and endeavours are made
in the designing stage to provide sufficient rigidity and strength, cutting down the cost
to a minimum, but still having the assurance of durability after completion. Civil
engineering in fisheries should naturally be carried out with the same endeavours and
with the clearcut recognition that the work is a means of fisheries development. Lack
of this recognition often makes the finished structures and establishments almost
useless or of low efficiency.

Environmental survey - from an environmental hydraulic engineering viewpoMt

Execution of civil engineering work in fisheries must be preceded by the establish-
ment of the designing criteria, and this calls for the clarification of the environmental
condition best suited to the growth of the species under consideration. To be more
specific, a careful prior study should be made on the ecology, physiology, diseases,
and empirically established management method (e.g. breeding and growing, etc.).
Aquatic animals grow and live in different environments and they are generally
lower organisms. For this reason, their physiology and manifestation of characters are
prone to and show wide adaptability to the changes of the environmental condition.
It would be ideal, therefore, if these characteristics (relationship between nutrition and
physiology and their environment, etc.) could be clarified before hand, and the
environmental factors affecting qualitative as well as quantitative improvement of
characters could be examined for the establishment of an 'improved type of aqua-
culture'. In actuality, however, such characteristics are still not fully understood
except for very few fish species, and no light has yet been cast on the life cycle of
many of the species of aquatic animals. This means that investigations should be con-
ducted from every angle in future to bring light on the effect of environmental condi-
tions on nutrition, physiology and pathology as well as natural enemies.
Although survey items will be confined to engineering aspects, it must be borne in
mind that the surveys are intended primarily for the increased production of animals.
Surveys should be conducted along scientific lines.
It is often the case that they are carried out in a formalistic manner by fisheries
personnel due to administrative restraints and customary practices. Degeneration into
formalism is also often observed in the mechanical compilation of data by month and
40 J. KATOH

year group, which is not sufficient to understand actual status. What counts most is
not such formalism but the collection of data by the method which actually promises
substantial development of the specific fish cultivation under consideration. To
elaborate the fact it may be stated that the hydraulic data requires that the surveys
be made vertically and by areas affected by tidal changes. As to the periodicity or
seasonal surveys, they should be determined by the critical time for aquaculture opera-
tion, for instance, at the time of stocking, peak growing and harvesting, etc.
The importance of such data will be better understood from the criteria survey
items and the survey methods shown in Table 5.

Physical-engineering 'Effective and Defective Factors' (E.D.F.) which are most

important or dominant for productivity are to be clearly defined
Destructive factors or the important key points in the project planning should be
grasped clearly.
Surveys cast light on a number of defective factors for the productivity, either
directly or indirectly, as well as on important points to be considered in the project
planning. It is desirable to execute a design in which all destructive factors are excluded
and all important points are given full consideration. Generally, however, a decision is
made on one or two such factors or points. Usually the factors or points 'thus deter-
mined are closely interrelated with each other.

Analysis o f E.D.F.
Analysis and review of such factors and points formulate the major point of the
successful planning work.
If the flow condition (i.e. velocity, flow direction, depth, etc.) is a major factor that
accelerates wear and degradation, a condition free from this factor should be artifici-
ally created. In this case, levdes or other structures should be constructed by civil
engineering work after perhaps a model test and similarity comparison.
If, on the other hand, water quality is the detrimental factor, then, mixing and
diffusion of water becomes the main theme of study and investigation. This civil
engineering work is now required for the creation of cultivation media with environ-
mental conditions. This work can be considered as a branch of fisheries engineering,
and applies to all civil engineering carried out for aquaculture projects.

Relation between productivity and E.D.F. is to be clarified

It is important to know how productivity can be affected by defective factors or
major planning points. This calls for investigations, model experiments and data analysis
which should all be conducted before embarking on the actual construction work; it
may be said in this process that engineering techniques are considered critically for the
first time in aquaculture.
Investigation of the magnitude and nature of defective factors should be followed
by the assessment of their influence on productivity. It is no exaggeration to say that
 TABLE 5
The recommended criteria arranged in the eight subjects for the achievement of fundamental planning for any coastal aquaculture project

Month 1. Biology 2. Fisheries 3. Climate 4. Hydraulics 5. Water quality 6. Plankton Z Bottom 8. Others

1 2 11 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
Life Habitat Stocking Main Main Air Wind 1 Wave Water Density Zoo- Phyto- BOD COD
history harvest density harvest obstacles tempera-direction: tempera- plankton plankton
works ture velocity ture

January 3 Types of stockings 3 Daily heliograph 2 Direction and 3 Salinity 3 Reduction 1 Tidal effect
velocity: in and
4 Kinds of feed 4 Precipitation three layers 4 pH value oxidation 2 Topography >
February at high and potential and
5 Quantity of excretes low tides 5 Transparency geology
4 Incandescence O
6 Amount of excretes 3 Amount of 6 Stratification reduction 3 River:
March water drainage area,
7 Amount of decomposed replaced 7 DO 5 Soil nature flow discharge,
excretes during one water quantity,
April tide cycle 8 BOD etc.
8 Oxygen required for
decomposition 9 COD 4 Sand in the o~
May flow ~
9 Amount of non<lecomposed 10 Phosphates
excretes
etc. 11 NO2_N Z
~
10 Oxygen required for ~
respiration 12 Ammonium-N

13 Calcium

14 SiO;Si

15 Others ~"
Z
December
Records on Records Records on 5 the Records on vertical zonation at Records on the
size, habit and on 12 average per period: selected stations measured every measurements
required present 6 Maximum a n d ten-day period made at
environments status; minimum per period selected spots
13 Expected
in new site

Monthly studies shall be made on the subjects (1-8) to determine the feasibility of tile site considered for aquaculture, or to derive methods to avoid unfavourable 4~
conditions.
42 J. K A T O H

the success of civil engineering work in the field of aquaculture hinges on such
investigation.
In Japan, considerable efforts have been made for clarification of defective factors,
but it cannot be said that their meaning is properly evaluated. This is because the
relationship between such factors and productivity has not yet been well understood.
Clarification of the relationship is a problem that awaits our further and constant studies.
In an attempt to bring a solution to the problem the following two methods may be
considered.
1. Method in which the nutrition and physiology of the subject animal is examined
at laboratory level with full account taken of its productivity, and the results
obtained are compared with the defective factors for clarification of general
characteristics of the said relationship.
2. Method in which the productivity of the subject animal in its natural habitat is
investigated by field and laboratory studies.
Method 1 is purely a biological procedure intended to study the general charac-
teristics of the subject animal, and is advantageous in that it casts light on many
physiological and other facts. However, it is clear that the laboratory tests involve
difficulties for correct judgement on the physiology of the animals, because it is
usually influenced largely by the natural environment in which they live. This renders
it difficult to unveil the manifestation of the characteristics in its natural habitat, so
that practical application of the finding is often made impracticable.
Method 2, on the other hand, is intended for macroscopic study of the area covered
and consequently is capable of improving productivity for a short period. However, it
has its own demerit, viz. the complexity of numerous factors often leads to the
omission of truly important elements.
Hence, it is desirable that the two methods be employed in parallel for comparative
study of the results obtained.
At any rate, it is of prime importance to investigate the relations between produc-
tion and defective factors in different areas and seasons. It is noted that the investiga-
tion should be conducted for the year, marking the average of annual productivity
gained substantially in extended periods. If this is not feasible, it is necessary to select
a number of years when the productivity is believed close to the average.
The investigation described above provides the basis for assessing the productivity,
clarifying the causes of production fluctuation, and establishing the conditions for
project planning as explained below.

Establishment of rational planning and designing policies

In the designing and planning stage, following the procedure above, due considera-
tion should be given to economic and administrative requirements from the viewpoint
of civil engineering in order to proceed with the execution of work.
 .. .t~
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Ii I ~ / PJannlrlg [ / OrJ theDJsciplmary r~
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~6 Calculations

F i g . 1. Fundamentals of planning for aquacultural engineering.

4~
44 j. KATOH

When estimation of the benefit derivable from engineering work is completed, the
regional socio-economic conditions are subjected to a rigid and comprehensive analysis
leading to a construction project essential to the regional fisheries development.
In order to derive fundamentals of project planning which are readily understood
and satisfied, the author invites consultation to the format presented in Table 5. By
filling the format provided by the required data it is possible to grasp the design
criteria without too much difficulty. Use of this format is strongly recommended,
because the lack of such fundamental data can hardly introduce civil engineering
techniques into the field of aquaculture.
The six items described above are illustrated in Fig. 1.

REFERENCES

Yasojima, G. (1973). Introduction to Civil Engineering, Gihodo, p. 1.

Kuronuma, K. (1954). Significance of propagation and cultivation (in Japanese). Aquaculture, 1
&2.
Milne, P. H. (1972). Fish and Shellfish Farming in Coastal Waters, Fishing News Ltd, London,
p. 15.