Mariculture is a form of marine farming, or cultivating marine organisms in enclosed spaces for food or other animal products. Mariculture plays an important role in meeting growing food demands, as well as being effective in aiding carbon sequestration. However, it threatens local ecosystems by throwing nutrient levels out of balance, causing eutrophication. This article examines how different types of mariculture have different impacts in the Sansha Bay in southeastern China, which raises both shellfish and grows seaweed. One method, called fed culture, (cages and ponds) utilizes nitrogen compounds to feed cultured organisms. The study shows that there is quite a bit of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds that are not utilized in the process of cultivation, which does lead to higher rates of coastal eutrophication. However, there is a second, more environmentally-friendly version of mariculture. This method involves seaweed cultivation, which acts as a nutrient sink and can offset the effects of fed culture and eutrophication.

The article is related to environmental science because it shows the dangers of mariculture and how our consumption can lead to more problems down the line. The increase in demand for seafood has led to an increase in mariculture, and that has led to dangerous algal blooms further down the line. However, there is a silver-lining. We can move towards other things to cultivate, such as seaweed. This will help combat the nutrient runoff, and seaweed is also a great source of food and can be turned into biofuels. Additionally, increased amounts of seaweed will help aid the ocean in removing excess CO2, helping with carbon neutrality. This is significant because if we adopt more sustainable mariculture models, then better ocean health will be promoted. Ocean acidification (which does affect mariculture of shellfish) will slow down, less coastal areas will become dead zones from eutrophication, and we could still meet growing food demands.