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[O] Geography(Pure) Smart Guides

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  1. Topic I: Coasts(Physical)

    1. How and why are coastal environments different and dynamic?
    5 Topics
  2. 2. Why are coastal areas valuable?
    4 Topics
  3. 3. How can we manage coastal areas in a sustainable manner?
    2 Topics
  4. Topic II: Living with Tectonic Hazards(Physical)
    4. Why are some areas more prone to tectonic hazards?
    2 Topics
  5. 5. What landforms and associated tectonic phenomena are found at plate boundaries?
    3 Topics
  6. 6. How do people prepare for and respond to earthquakes?
    3 Topics
  7. Topic III: Variable Weather and Changing Climate(Physical)
    7. Why do different places experience different weather and climate?
    7 Topics
  8. 8. What is happening to the Earth’s climate?
    5 Topics
  9. 9. Is the weather becoming more extreme?
    4 Topics
  10. Topic IV: Global Tourism(Human)
    10. How does the nature of tourism vary from place to place?
    2 Topics
  11. 11. Why has tourism become a global phenomenon?
    3 Topics
  12. 12. Developing tourism at what cost?
    2 Topics
  13. Topic V: Food Resources(Human)
    13. How and why have food consumption patterns changed since the 1960s?
    6 Topics
  14. 14. What are the trends and challenges in the production of food crops?
    4 Topics
  15. 15. How can the problem of food shortage be addressed?
    1 Topic
  16. Topic VI: Health and Diseases(Human)
    16. What are the global patterns of health and diseases?
    3 Topics
  17. 17. What influences the spread and impact of infectious diseases?
    3 Topics
  18. 18. How can we manage the current and future spread of infectious diseases?
    4 Topics
  19. Topic VII: Geography Skills and Investigations
    19. Map Reading
    11 Topics
  20. 20. Tourism Fieldwork
    1 Topic
[O] Geography(Pure) Smart Guides 2. Why are coastal areas valuable? HOW COASTAL AREAS ARE USED BY HUMANS
Chapter 2, Topic 2
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HOW COASTAL AREAS ARE USED BY HUMANS

FortisLearn June 16, 2020
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Fisheries and Aquaculture

The worldwide demand for fish has grown so much that large areas of the world’s oceans are overfished. This has led to people rearing fish in fisheries. Fisheries are areas where fish are bred and raised to meet the growing demand for fish.


One-third of the world’s fish supply now comes from fisheries. These include farming fish in cages or ponds close to coasts, in rivers or converted wetlands. This form of farming is known as aquaculture. Aquaculture is now widely practiced around the world, where China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand are the top few aquaculture producers of fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. China tops the list, producing 32,735,944 tonnes.

Eg. Ca Mau, Vietnam
The province of Ca Mau, Vietnam, is the nation’s shrimp production centre. In the 1980s, more than 60,000 hectares of coastal mangroves were cleared for building materials, firewood, charcoal and medicinal herbs, and converted into shrimp farms. Areas cleared from mangrove forest are favorable for shrimp production as they are already waterlogged.
Ponds are constructed from mud or concrete to hold water and shrimps. Production from shrimp farms rapidly accelerated in the 1990s and the early years of the 21st century, reaching a record high of US$800 million in 2010. This was largely at the cost of mangrove forests and wetland rice fields.

However, the clearing of mangroves has left Vietnam’s coastline more vulnerable to erosion from storms and pollution from pond waste. However, there is now an alternative method of shrimp farming that would not require the clearance of mangroves.

Housing and Transportation

Many people live near the coast, but there are some who live right on it such as in the stilt houses. These houses are built on stilts above water and are often connected by walkways. The walkways allow people to move within the community. Boats also facilitate movement, and are a common mode of transportation for these communities. The coast is used by stilt house communities for day-to-day activities. For example, the communities rely on daily tides to remove household wastes from the area.

Eg. Kukup, Malaysia
Kukup is a place with stilt house communities. Air Masin is one village in Kukup with a stilt house community of about 180 stilt houses. There are also floating fish farms, where fresh fish and other marine products are sold.

Tourism and recreation

Eg. Sentosa, Singapore
Sentosa, a former military island transformed into a resort island.
Many recent developments in Sentosa have capitalised on the coast, such as the ONE°15
Marina Club which has world-class Marina facilities. Resorts World Sentosa has also maximised the use of its waterfront by building its hotel, museum, and marine life park on the coast.
With these attractions, the island had 19 million visitors in 2011, a 600% increase from 2003.