GIS in marine fisheries
Geographic information systems (GIS) technology is rapidly becoming a management
and research tool for fisheries professionals (Fisher and Toepfer 1998). Many researches
and studies in marine fisheries field have used GIS to model suitable habitat for certain
species, distribution of fish, and fish species diversity (Garofalo. G 2007; (Zheng. X.
2002); (Clark. Randall 2004). Recently, the study involves more complex model
(Nilsson. Per 2007). In this study the authors applied GIS to investigate spatial
distribution of fishing effort based on trawl fishing data.
Constant demands on the coastal zone from a wide range of human activities suggest that
the continued function of natural communities may be threatened in some areas (Le Pape.
Olivier 2003). Thus, it is needed to determine the suitable area for certain species,
especially commercial species to ensure the health of its stock. Two methods have been
observed as common technique determining a suitable habitat in GIS. Fist technique has
used physical factor such as bathymetry, sediment structure and river plume influence to
identify the perfect habitat for common sole (Le Pape. Olivier 2003). By integrating the
distribution of these factors in the study area and overlaying it with trawl data, they
delineated the study area into some categorical measure which area good, moderate or not
suitable for common sole. The second, (Bello. P. Javier 2005) initialized the study by
incorporating spatial analysis of potential habitats to estimate abundance, density and
biomass of spiny lobster (P. argus). The latter study, ground check is conducted by
surveying the classified area in term of lobster abundance and its bottom type. The GIS
analysis that has been used on the two researches above can be further extended to
investigate anthropogenic disturbance that might take place on the study area (Le Pape.
Olivier 2003). This information will be very useful for fisheries manager to set up
fisheries management area and its buffer area, in order to protect the habitat and the
organism that live in that area