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GIS and Aquaculture: A tool for spatial decision support

GIS and Aquaculture: A tool for spatial decision support. By Zosia Bornik MSc Candidate, RMES. Background. Rapid growth of aquaculture worldwide 1980-87, 13-fold increase in salmon aquaculture 1990s, majority of world trade (fresh and frozen salmon)

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GIS and Aquaculture: A tool for spatial decision support

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  1. GIS and Aquaculture:A tool for spatial decision support By Zosia Bornik MSc Candidate, RMES

  2. Background • Rapid growth of aquaculture worldwide • 1980-87, 13-fold increase in salmon aquaculture • 1990s, majority of world trade (fresh and frozen salmon) Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. 2001 • In B.C., • 70% of total national production • 68,000 tons/yr • Compare to 23,000 tons/yr wild salmon harvest Source: Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. 2001

  3. Consolidation of firms • Small-scale, national  multinational • In B.C., • 1989 50 : 135 • 2003 12 : 121 (5 : 100) • Major owners Norway, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada Source: Naylor et al. 2003

  4. Salmon farm siting in B.C. • Mostly prior to • biophysical siting criteria (1987, MAFF) • biophysical suitability study (1989, MAFF) • “Borrowed” guidelines… Source: Galland, D. 2003 • Concerns about long-term sustainability • disease, escapes, habitat impacts • Recent (2002) lifting of moratorium on new salmon farms in B.C. • Salmon farm industry predicted to quadruple over the next 10 years! Source: Gardner and Peterson, 2003

  5. Where does GIS fit in? • Aquaculture has inherent spatial component • Biophysical and socio-economic characteristics vary from location to location… • What worked in Norway may not work in B.C.! • GIS can provide spatial information for decision-makers • eg. site selection, planning, monitoring

  6. Overview of Talk • Seven phases of a GIS project • relevance to decision-making in aquaculture • Case study: shellfish and finfish aquaculture management in B.C. • Success • Challenges • Future directions

  7. Seven phases in a GIS project Start GISAnalysts Experts End-users Nath et al. 2000

  8. Identify project requirements • Formulate specifications • Develop analytical framework • Classification • Overlay • Connectivity (network) analysis • Hierarchical models • Locate data sources • Organize and manipulate data • Analyze data • Evaluate outputs

  9. Case Study: Shellfish and finfish aquaculture in B.C. • Locally relevant • Collaborative implementation of tools and databases • MAFF and LUCO • Potential for decision-support • site selection • long-term management

  10. Site Criteria Index • 14 biophysical factors  3 subgroups • SCI per subgroup • (species-specific) • Overall SCI: geometric mean • Assign “capability classes” to each potential location • Good, medium, poor, not-advisable

  11. Some limitations • Resolution of data • Use of best available information • Ownership and pricing issues • “Active use to meet decision-support needs of a range of clients”? • BCAS site capability maps (no socio-economic component)

  12. Future directions • Paradigm shift… • GIS as a component of larger decision support system • Software trends • Internet distribution of data • Increasing data storage capabilities • Mobile data collection devices

  13. Future directions cont. • Migration of GIS tools Academia (theory)  Decision-making (practice) • Training and education • Expand GIS knowledge base to include decision-makers (end-users) • expand scope ofapplications for GIS experts

  14. Conclusions • Growing trend: using GIS for natural resource management • GIS and aquaculture: a powerful decision-support tool • Potential to the way in which AQ decisions are made • Siting and monitoring to reflect ecology • Need to expand GIS beyond academic realm

  15. End of talk

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