Advances in data collection for marine planning and fisheries management

Abstract

Marine spatial planning efforts require spatial information on human uses and biophysical components of the ocean. Currently available spatial use information on the for-hire fishing industry is insufficient for planning purposes, lacking spatial resolution and confidence by the industry. In 2015, through a collaborative partnership with ocean planning and fisheries management authorities, SeaPlan piloted the collection of precise spatial information directly from fourteen for-hire captains in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York using onboard tablets loaded with the SAFIS eTRIPS Mobile application. During the course of the study, 167 trips were collected from participating captains and mapped. Although the data collected are not broadly representative of the industry's activity, the study demonstrated the power and feasibility of direct, collaborative data collection from ocean users, providing another technique in the catalog of human use characterization methods. This technique is likely to be most effective when used to supplement additional data collection, in particular when using participatory mapping, as it can provide an empirical baseline to guide and compare with stakeholder input.