Yantai Forty-Mile Bay Selected as Outstanding Case in Fourth National Batch of Beautiful Bays

Source: Lightning News

Reporter: Liu Mojin

Recently, the Department of Ecology and Environment of Shandong Province announced the list of typical cases for the second batch of provincial-level Beautiful Bays, and Yantai Forty-Mile Bay was among the selections. Forty-Mile Bay stretches from Dongpaotai in the west to Yangma Island in the east, spanning across Zhifu District, Laishan District, High-tech Zone, and Muping District, with a coastline of 50.92 kilometers and a bay area of 198.86 square kilometers. The High-tech Zone section accounts for more than half of the bay area. The bay features a harmonious blend of mountains and sea, diverse coastal landscapes, scattered islands, and abundant public coastal spaces. After multiple rounds of evaluation, including active application, expert review, and on-site inspection, it was ultimately recognized.

In recent years, Yantai High-tech Zone has comprehensively studied and implemented laws and regulations related to marine ecological environmental protection. It has carefully reviewed the "Shandong Province Beautiful Bay Construction Requirements," anchored itself to the set goals and requirements, thoroughly understood the directives from higher authorities, and leveraged the "Bay Chief System" as a key mechanism to solidly advance work in pollution prevention in coastal waters, ecological protection and restoration, and shoreline environment improvement through coordinated land-sea efforts.

Enhancing Political Commitment and Strengthening Responsibilities for Marine Ecological and Environmental Protection

Strictly implementing requirements outlined in documents such as the  "Yantai City Marine Ecological Environmental Protection Regulations," the "Yantai City Management Measures for Sea-Entry Sewage Outlets,"  and the "Yantai City Bay Chief System Work Priorities," the zone issued "Yantai High-tech Zone Comprehensive Implementation Plan for the Bay Chief System". It improved the framework of the Bay Chief System and, adhering to the principles of territorial management, "who uses, who manages," and integrated urban-rural development, carried out tasks such as floating debris collection, beach cleanup, and onshore waste disposal. The system fully leveraged the coordinating role of bay chiefs at all levels in managing and protecting the bay. Cumulatively, bay chiefs patrolled over 900 kilometers of coastline, identified and facilitated the resolution of more than 40 issues, effectively advancing comprehensive environmental improvement in key sea areas. This further enhanced the capacity for bay management and protection, continuously meeting the public's demand for a beautiful marine ecological environment.

Emphasizing Source Control to Improve Land-Based Pollution Management

Strengthening comprehensive improvement of rivers flowing into the sea, the Ecological Environment Branch and the Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau collaborated on multiple special actions and projects, including the "Winter-Spring Water Environment Quality Consolidation and Improvement Campaign," "Flood Season River Water Quality Exceedance Risk Investigation and Remediation," "Mother River Improvement Project in High-tech Zone," and "Yantai High-tech Zone Water Environment Comprehensive Improvement Project." Efforts were coordinated to advance infrastructure development, outfall remediation, and river dredging. A total of 3 kilometers of river sections were environmentally improved, and all three major rivers flowing into the sea were cleared of Class V inferior water bodies. The zone formulated "One River, One Policy" comprehensive improvement plans for the three key rivers flowing into the sea, conducted analyses of total nitrogen pollution conditions and source tracing in the main and tributary streams, and identified key pollution sources through foot patrols and data analysis. A pollution source inventory and record system were established, leading to a steady decline in total nitrogen concentrations.

Work on tracing and rectifying sewage outlets into the sea has been intensified. Thorough investigations and rectification efforts have been solidly carried out. All sewage outlets into the sea within the zone are managed dynamically, classified by type, pollutant attributes, responsible entity, and other factors. Currently, the rectification and acceptance inspection work for all sea-entry sewage outlets has been completed, achieving a 100% completion rate.

A normalized clean beach action mechanism has been established. A clean beach action plan has been issued, combining drone surveillance, binocular observation, and foot patrols to inspect the Forty-Mile Bay (High-tech Zone section). Key focuses include shoreline appearance, sea area status, shoreline management, land-based drainage, pollution prevention. Issues discovered, such as marine and coastal garbage and disorderly conditions at temporary fishing boat berthing points, are verified, assigned for correction, and rectified, ensuring that the quality of the marine environment in the jurisdiction remains stable and continuously improves.

Strengthening Publicity Efforts to Foster a Strong Atmosphere for Marine Protection

Departments and units such as the Ecological Environment Branch, Economic Development Bureau, and Mashan Sub-district Office adopted multiple measures to carry out diverse legal publicity activities. These included themed beach cleanup actions such as "Fairyland Coast · Thanks to You" and public welfare fish stock enhancement activities like "Blue Bay · Charming High-tech Zone." These efforts further promoted environmental protection concepts, advocated for civilized behavior on beaches, safeguarded the marine ecological environment, protected marine biodiversity, and enhanced public awareness and responsibility for caring for and protecting the ocean.

Moving forward, Yantai High-tech Zone will deepen the consolidation of achievements from the provincial Beautiful Bay initiative, review and summarize daily work issues and shortcomings, strengthen coordination and collaboration, pool departmental efforts, and adopt multiple measures to carry out marine protection education and awareness activities. It will proactively integrate marine ecological and environmental protection work into the construction of a marine powerhouse city and the development of a green, low-carbon, high-quality demonstration city. With a higher level of commitment and more concrete measures, the zone will advance marine ecological and environmental protection efforts to new heights.