276
A. Simms
naturally occurring resources. Given the government incentives to expand and diversify
aquaculture, developers are also examining the potential of harvesting naturally
occurring species such as the under utilized soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria).
In May 1995 Innovative Fisheries Inc. of St. John’s, Newfoundland conducted
field studies to evaluate the soft-shell clam resources on three sand flats near Burgeo,
Newfoundland (Fig. 1). The field studies involved the collection of data on:
1)
2)
3)
4)
clam biology
hydrology
water quality
land-use
within the study area. This database will provide the information required for evaluating
the economic viability and the management of the resource. This data also fulfils a
requirement on government regulations for licensing aquaculture operations. The field
data are spatial and the non-spatial attributes, relating to resource assessment and
management issues, can be integrated, analyzed and mapped using geographical
information systems (GIS).
GIS and Aquaculture
GIS has been used in aquaculture studies for at least 10 years. Kapetsky et al. (1988),
Manjarrez and Ross (1995) used GIS to evaluate the suitability of coastal areas for fish
farming activities. In these studies, the aquaculture potential of a coastal area was
determined by factors such as bathymetry, water quality, exposure, landuse and
proximity to other facilities. Aquaculture management issues such as the multiple uses
of estuarine waters, the impact of water quality on shellfish leases, aquaculture and
habitat availability and conflict issues between aquaculture operations and marine
waterfowl habitats have been addressed by Clarke (1990), Legault (1992), and Simms
(1994), respectively.
The development of spatial databases for soft-shell aquaculture sites will
permit the use of GIS as a decision support tool which can help both the aquaculture
developers and the government regulator in assessing and managing the clam beds near
Burgeo. The advantages of using a GIS as a part of the decision making process are:
1) GIS provides the capability to integrate, scale, organize and manipulate spatial
data from many different sources
2) data can be maintained, updated, extracted and mapped efficiently
and
A. Simms
naturally occurring resources. Given the government incentives to expand and diversify
aquaculture, developers are also examining the potential of harvesting naturally
occurring species such as the under utilized soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria).
In May 1995 Innovative Fisheries Inc. of St. John’s, Newfoundland conducted
field studies to evaluate the soft-shell clam resources on three sand flats near Burgeo,
Newfoundland (Fig. 1). The field studies involved the collection of data on:
1)
2)
3)
4)
clam biology
hydrology
water quality
land-use
within the study area. This database will provide the information required for evaluating
the economic viability and the management of the resource. This data also fulfils a
requirement on government regulations for licensing aquaculture operations. The field
data are spatial and the non-spatial attributes, relating to resource assessment and
management issues, can be integrated, analyzed and mapped using geographical
information systems (GIS).
GIS and Aquaculture
GIS has been used in aquaculture studies for at least 10 years. Kapetsky et al. (1988),
Manjarrez and Ross (1995) used GIS to evaluate the suitability of coastal areas for fish
farming activities. In these studies, the aquaculture potential of a coastal area was
determined by factors such as bathymetry, water quality, exposure, landuse and
proximity to other facilities. Aquaculture management issues such as the multiple uses
of estuarine waters, the impact of water quality on shellfish leases, aquaculture and
habitat availability and conflict issues between aquaculture operations and marine
waterfowl habitats have been addressed by Clarke (1990), Legault (1992), and Simms
(1994), respectively.
The development of spatial databases for soft-shell aquaculture sites will
permit the use of GIS as a decision support tool which can help both the aquaculture
developers and the government regulator in assessing and managing the clam beds near
Burgeo. The advantages of using a GIS as a part of the decision making process are:
1) GIS provides the capability to integrate, scale, organize and manipulate spatial
data from many different sources
2) data can be maintained, updated, extracted and mapped efficiently
and